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PRINCETON,    N.    J 


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Section 

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THE  GREAT  CONCERN. 


THE 


GREAT  CONCERN 


MAN'S   RELATION  TO   GOD 


FUTURE   STATE. 


NEHEMIAH    ADAMS,    D.  D., 

PASTOR      OF      THE      ESSEX      STREET      CHURCn,      BOSTON, 


^etonJj  (Bbilifltt. 


BOSTON: 

GOULD      AND      LINCOLN, 

59    WASHINGTON     STREET. 

NEW   YORK:    SHELDON   AND    COMPANY. 
CINCINNATI :  GEO.  S.  BLANCHARD. 

I860. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congrew,  In  the  year  1859,  by  Gould  ft  Lincolx,  in  th« 
Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetti. 


CONTENTS. 


.  I. 

PAOB 

INSTANTANEOUS   CONVERSION 9 


II. 

JUSTIFICATION,    AND   ITS   CONSEQUENCES.         ...     31 

III.  , 
OUR  BIBLE. 63 


IV. 

SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT    FOR     FUTURE,   ENDLESS 

PUNISHMENT 115 


V. 

REASONABLENESS   OF   FUTURE,    ENDLESS   PUNISH- 
MENT  169 


VI. 
GOD  IS  LOVE.    .     . 203 


PUBLISHERS'  ADVERTISEMENT. 


During  the  general  attention  to  the  subject  of 
religion,  in  185T-8,  a  desire  was  expressed  by  some 
of  the  author's  parishioners  that  certain  discourses 
which  had  been  of  service  to  inquirers,  should  be 
printed  in  the  form  of  Tracts  for  general  distribution. 
They  were  accordingly  issued  under  the  title  of 
"  Truths  for  the  Times."  Of  these  Tracts  more 
than  eleven  thousand  copies  have  been  sold. 

The  "  Scriptural  Argument,''  was  originally  an 
article  written  for  a  newspaper,  by  invitation. 

These  Tracts,  several  of  which  have  been,  for 
some  time,  out  of  print,  but  are  still  in  demand, 
are   here   re-printed,  in   a  new   shape. 

Some  who  have  not  preserved  the  several  numbers 
may  be  glad  to  obtain  them  in  this  collected  and  more 
permanent  form,  for  reference,  and  for  distribution. 

Boston,  May^  1859. 


I. 


INSTANTANEOUS  CONVEIISION. 


The  difference  in  the  judgments  of  men  with  regard  to 
Religious  CWversion,  is  owing  to  the  difference  in  their  views 
with  respect  to  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  gospel.  They 
who  beheve  that  a  vicarious  sacrifice  for  sin  has  been  made  by 
One  who  "  was  in  the  beginning  with  God,"  and  «  was  God  " 
and  was  "made  flesh,"  are  led  to  expect  and  to  find  something 
m  the  relation  of  men,  as  sinners,  to  God,  which  makes  such  an 
atonement  indispensable  to  salvation.  It  confirms  their  faith 
in  the  tremendous  penalty  threatened  against  sin ;  it  shows 
them  not  only  the  possibility,  but  the  justice,  of  pardon  founded 
on  such  a  sacrifice  ;  and  the  promised  supernatural  change,  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  of  all  who  are  thus  pardoned,  is  no  more 
than  they  might  expect  would  follow. 

If  the  Saviour  be,  to  some,  Supreme  God,  but  to  others 
only  « the  young  man  of  Nazareth  ; »  or  if  he  be  to  some  an 
atoning  sacrifice  for  sin,  and  to  others  only  an  efflorescence  of 
human  perfectibility;  and  again,  if  he  be  to  us  One  who  was 
"with  God,"  as  well  as  "God,"  and  to  others  merely  a  super- 
human  testimony  of  divine  love,  a  created  being  greatly  en 
dowed,  —  our  views  and  feelings  on  religious  subjects  will  totally 
differ  in  things  esteemed  by  some  to  be  essential  to  salvation. 
They  who   hold   that   men  need  only  instruction  and  moral 

(9) 


10  INSTANTANEOUS    CONVERSION. 

culture  to  secure  their  eternal  welfare ;  that  Christ  was  merely 
a  messenger,  teacher,  example,  and  only  thus  a  Saviour ;  that 
sin  is  its  own  punishment,  in  this  world  ;  and  that  death  is  in- 
variably followed  either  by  immediate  happiness,  or,  at  least, 
by  some  merciful,  disciplinary  measures,  —  must  look  with  sin- 
cere disapprobation  upon  any  thing  which  is  sudden  and  im- 
petuous in  religious  experience,  and  chiefly  because  of  the  false 
theology  which  they  think  is  thereby  inculcated.  Instead  of  a 
popular  religious  excitement  being  to  them  like 

" Morn,  her  steps  in  the  Eastern  clime 


Advancing, 

and  sowing 


" the  earth  with  Orient  pearl," 

they  say,  "  An  enemy  hath  done  this  ; "  tares,  broadcast,  are 
to  disappoint  and  sadden  those  who,  they  think,  are  laboring, 
by  the  only  right  processes,  in  the  great  field  of  morals  and 
religion.  Religious  doctrines,  therefore,  are  evidently  far 
from  being  mere  speculations ;  for  surely  nothing  can  be  more 
practical  than  things  which  have  power  to  heave  society,  like 
the  sea,  from  land's  end  to  land's  end ;  and  those  great  religious 
excitements,  called  "  Revivals  of  Religion,"  are  created  only  by 
these  doctrines. 

It  is  not  the  object,  now,  to  discuss  these  doctrines,  but  to 
offer  an  exposition  of  our  views  on  the  great  subject  of  re- 
ligious conversion,  as  connected  with  these  truths  ;  and  this  for 
the  information,  respectfully  and  kindly,  of  those  who  think 
that  evangelical  Christians  give  undue  prominence  to  the 
subject  of  instantaneous  conversion,  and  that  we  depreciate 
the  value  and  importance  of  a  continuous,  uniform  life  of 
piety.  It  is  thought  that  we  aim  to  excite  a  certain  "  agony  " 
of  soul,  which  we  call  "  experiencing  religion,"  and  that  we 


INSTANTANEOUS    CONVERSION.  11 

therefore  place  little  or  no  stress  on  religion,  viewed  as  the 
great  work  of  life ;  or,  if  we  do  not  thus  intentionally  repre- 
sent the  subject,  that  at  least  we  encourage  a  disproportioned 
view  of  the  one  act  of  obtaining  forgiveness. 

That  such  is  the  general  impression  with  those  who  do  not 
entertain  evangelical  views,  is  obvious  from  their  current  stric- 
tures, in  writing  and  conversation*  A  fair  specimen  of  these 
strictures  comes  to  hand,  just  now,  in  a  communication  in  one 
of  our  daily  papers  ;  *  and  being  in  no  respect  different  from 
many  of  the  same  class,  it  will  serve  as  an  illustration  of  the 
objections  and  difficulties  in  the  minds  of  many  with  regard  to 
the  subject.     The  following  are  extracts :  — 

"THE  REVIVAL. 

"To  THE  Editor  of  the  Boston  Courier; 

"  There  is,  it  seems,  enough  superstition  left  in  the  world  to 
call  this  a  special  visitation  of  God ;  or  there  is  a  hazy  philos- 
ophy, that  looks  upon  it  as  a  providential  tide  in  the  moral 
world.  --  A  false  idea  of  religion  itself  is  spread  among  the 
people.     Religion —  by  which    I   understand   a  right   heart 
towards  God  and  towards  men  — is  that  which  we  are  to  at- 
tain by  the  reasonable  and  strenuous  exertion  of  all  our  powers, 
God  helping,  and  the  constant  use  of  all  the  means  provided 
in  nature,  in  life,  and  in  all  holy  ordinances  and  institutions. 
But  instead  of  a  man's  feeling  that  he  is  put  to  learn  in  this 
great  school  of  God's  ordaining,  —  to  learn  of  Christ  day  by 
day,  — to  take  into  his  heart  and  into  daily  heart-meditation 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  he  is  sent  away  into  some  little,  ex- 
ceptional revival  school  of  man's  making ;  and  there  '  he  gets ' 
—  what  ?     Why,  '  religion.'     Which  is  as  great  a  mistake  as 
if  a  youth,  by  a  week's  paroxysm  of  anxiety  about  his  studies, 
instead  of  a  whole  university  course,  should  be  said  to  get 
learning.     I  do  not  object  to  epochs  and  resolves  in  the  re- 
ligious  and  moral  course  ;  but  I  object  to  this  notion  of  having 

*  Boston  Courier,  April  15, 1858. 


12  INSTANTANEOUS    CONVERSION. 

attained  the  thing  in  question,  instead  of  having  resolved  to 
seek  it  and  finally  to  attain  it. 

"  But  it  may  be  said  that  the  parallel  between  learning  and 
religion  does  not  hold  ;  that  for  learning  man  has  his  pnstino 
powers,  but  that  in  his  spiritual  nature  he  is  all  diseased,  sick, 
and  paralyzed.  Admitting  it  were  so,  still  I  say  that  the  re- 
vival method  of  cure  is  not  the  right  one.  A  judicious 
physician  would  say  to  the  sick  man,  as  a  general  prescription, 
<  You  must  take  exercise ;  you  must  walk  out  daily ;  you 
must  carefully  regulate  your  diet ;  you  must  deny  yourself  all 
unhealthy  excitement ;  iT  will  be  hard  work  for  you  to  get 
health,  and  will  take  a  long  time.'  '  No,'  says  the  patient,  '  I 
had  rather  go  to  such  a  shop,  and  take  a  certain  nostrum  they 
have  there ;  or  a  shock  from  a  galvanic  battery.'  It  won't 
cure  him." 

The  difficulty  with  this  unknown  but  doubtless  sincere  wri- 
ter, and  with  all  whom  he  represents,  is  this  :  he  makes  no  ac- 
count of  the  great  change  in  our  relation  to  God  as  sinners, 
which,  all  evangelical  Christians  believe  and  teach,  is  consti- 
tuted by  an  act  of  faith  in  the  sacrifice  of  Christ.  Such  a 
change  we  find  to  be  insisted  on  by  Christ  and  the  apostles,  as 
the  first  essential  step  in  the  work  of  salvation.  It  is  attended 
with  a  conviction  of  being  under  condemnation  for  sin,  and 
with  sorrow  for  sin  as  committed  against  God ;  a  sincere 
turning  of  the  soul  to  God,  pleading  the  work  of  the  Redeemer 
as  the  ground  of  forgiveness.  Doing  so,  we  are  delivered 
from  condemnation,  and  at  the  same  time  a  preternatural 
change  is  wrought  in  us  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which  is  called  in  the  Bible  being  "born  again."  This  we 
profess,  through  the  mercy  of  God,  to  have  experienced,  and 
people  who  sit  under  evangelical  preaching  experience  it. 
They  who  have  never  known  it  may  not  properly  adduce 
their  negative  testimony  against  our  positive  knowledge.  We 
have  learned  from  the  Bible  and  experience  that  there  is  a 


INSTANTANEOUS    CONVERSION.  13 

certain  way  of  beginning  a  religious  life,  and  without  this 
there  is,  for  us,  no  true  religion.  We  do  not  find  the  Saviour 
declaring,  first  of  all,  that  "  He  who  lives  a  good  life  shall  not 
come  into  condemnation,"  but,  "  He  that  believeth  shall  not 
come  into  condemnation,  but  is  passed  from  death  unto  life," 
and  that,  too,  before  his  good  life  has  tested  his  sincerity. 
This  must  precede  a  good  life  ;  for  without  this  preternatural 
change  accompanying  this  act  of  believing  on  Christ,  we  are 
not  capable  of  spiritual  feelings.  "  He  that  hath  the  Son 
hath  life  ;  and  he  that  hath  not  the  Son  of  God  hath  not 
life."  * 

So  that  if  Christ  has  made  an  atonement  for  sin,  and  there 
is  an  act  of  regenerating  grace  accompanying  faUh  in  it,  no  one 
can  be  a  Christian  who  does  not  receive  Christ  in  his  great 
office.  We  do  well  to  understand  fully  what  is  required  of 
us,  and  what  is  done  for  us,  in  becoming  Christians.  There  is 
nothing  so  important  as  this.  To  be  born  is  an  everlasting 
calamity  unless  we  are  born  again. 

It  is  with  all  men,  we  believe,  as  it  would  be  if  we  were 
guilty  of  a  capital  crime.  We  cannot  return  from  the  scene 
of  our  transgression  to  our  dwellings  and  places  of  business  as 
though  nothing  had  happened,  saying,  "  Good  citizenship  con- 
sists in  doing  well  all  the  time,  not  in  being  cleared  by  a 
court  of  justice."  In  our  case,  good  citizenship  would  consist, 
first  of  all,  in  being  cleared  at  law.  But  we  say,  "  Can  being 
cleared  at  law  make  us  innocent,  virtuous,  and  in  every  respect 
good?"  Being  justified  by  the  proper  authority,  it  maybe 
replied,  is  necessary  to  life  itself;  this  must  take  place  before 
we  can  speak  even  about  living,  much  less  about  living  a 
good  life.  Our  life  itself  is  forfeited  to  human  justice.  "  To 
begin  and  be  good "  is  not  the  divinely  appointed  method  of 
being  saved,  but  to  be  "justified"  from  our  sins  by  exercising 

*  1  John  V.  12. 


14  I  N  S  T  A  1'  T  A  N  E  0  U  S     CONVERSION. 

faith  in  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  as  a  satisfaction  to 
divine  justice,  and  thus  to  receive,  by  the  grace  of  God,  a 
change  of  nature.  A  good  Hfe  is  the  necessary  consequence 
of  being  set  free  from  the  condemning  sentence  of  the  law. 

When  we  hear  one  say,  in  reply  to  this,  "  Religion  is  the 
work  of  a  life ;  it  cannot  take  place  at  once,"  we  think  of 
the  captain  of  a  vessel  who,  in  a  dark  night,  is  sailing  towards 
Cohasset  Rocks  instead  of  Boston  Harbor,  and  who  should 
say  to  his  mate  entreating  to  let  him  change  the  helm,  "  A 
safe  voyage  does  not  consist  in  one  change  of  the  helm  ;  there 
must  be  a  safe  run."  But  in  his  case  a  good  voyage  will  con- 
sist, first  of  all,  in  changing  the  helm.  So  with  us.  God 
deals  with  us  only  as  sinners  till  we  are  justified  by  faith  in 
Christ.  He  who  "  has  not  believed  on  the  name  of  the  only 
begotten  Son  of  God,"  in  his  essential  office  and  work,  is, 
according  to  the  Bible,  "  under  condemnation." 

As  in  a  long  and  complicated  difficulty  between  man  and 
man,  a  definite  understandin'g  and  reconciliation,  a  proposal 
and  an  acceptance  of  conditions  of  peace,  are  indispensable, 
making  all  subsequent  acts  between  the  parties  easy  and  free, 
so  this  one  act  of  believing  on  Jesus  Christ  as  an  ofi*ered  sacri- 
fice for  sins,  and  the  sense  of  pardon  and  acceptance  with 
God  which  comes  with  it,  are  the  occasion  of  exceeding  peace 
and  joy  by  the  very  definiteness  which  they  give  to  our 
religious  hope.  This  is  referred  to  when  it  is  said,  "  There- 
fore, being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  On  every  other  plan  of  reconcili- 
ation with  God,  we  never  know  when  we  have  done  enough. 
But  we  speak  the  experience  of  multitudes  without  number 
when  we  say,  that  there  is  wonderful  power  in  the  atonement 
by  Christ  to  satisfy  the  conscience  at  once.  Hence,  the  sud- 
den and  great  joy  which  accompanies  conversion,  when  the 
subject  of  it  is  fully  aware  that  he  has  exercised  saving  faith. 


INSTANTANEOUS     CONVERSION.  15 

"We  experience  the  great  practical  value  of  this  way  of 
pardon  by  an  act  of  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  at  dying  beds. 
A  man  arrested  by  sudden  sickness,  or  by  an  accident,  has  but 
a  few  uncertam  liours  to  live  ;  yet,  tiiough  he  has  always  for- 
gotten his  God  and  Saviour,  we  are  insti-ucted,  by  our  views 
of  the  gospel,  to  offer  pardon  to  him,  upon  condition  of  his 
accepting  the  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God  as  the  proi)itiation 
for  his  sins.  Believing  in  instantaneous  regeneration,  and  in 
pardon,  as  a  consequence  of  the  simple  act  of  faith  in  Cin-ist, 
we  approach  a  dying  sinner  with  confidence.  .  Salvation  will 
ensue  upon  his  first  act  of  faith  in  Christ,  as  really  as  though 
a  life  of  piety  could  succeed.  We  are  not  compelled  to  feel 
that  by  his  neglect  he  has  lost  his  chance  of  salvation  ;  but  the 
mercy  which  provided  pardon  for  us  without  adequate  merit 
on  our  part,  abounds  "  much  more  "  "  where  sin  has  abound- 
ed." Some  say  this  is  too  easy  a  way  of  being  saved,  and 
thus  our  system  appears  too  merciful.  Others  say  it  must 
encourage  men  to  put  off  repentance  in  hope  of  that  last  ex 
treme  chance  of  being  saved.  No  doubt  many  do  thus  tres- 
pass upon  the  long  suffering  of  God,  and  some  of  them  find, 
alas  !  that  it  is  to  their  destruction.  But  as  to  the  dying  thief, 
so  to  others,  Christ  crucified  affords  mercy  through  faith, 
without  works,  in  a  dying  hour.  The  selfsame  way  of  justi- 
fication and  salvation  by  faith  in  Christ,  without  works,  we 
propose  to  the  sinner  on  the  verge  of  time,  and  to  the  youth 
with  the  prospect  of  long  life.  To  the  youth  we  say,  that  to 
him  who  trusts  in  Christ,  God  imputes  righteousness  freely 
without  works.  And  to  the  dying  man  who  has  no  works, 
and  will  never  have  any,  to  offer,  we  preach  the  same  glorious 
gospel  of  the  blessed  God. 

We  must  be  careful  not  tc  lose  the  opportunity  of  salvii+ion 
by  mistaking  the  only  true  beginning  of  it,  and  substituting  the 
whole  future  method  of  a  good   life  for  the  entrance  itself, 


16  INSTANTANEOUS     CONVERSION. 

whicli  we  must  pass  befoi'e  we  can  be,  in  the  -scriptural  sense, 
Christians.  Christ  says,  "Enter  ye  in  at  the  strait  gate." 
Entering  a  gate  is  not  "  the  work  of  a  hfe."  The  road  which 
follows  may  be  long,  but  much  time  is  not  spent  in  passing  a 
turnpike  gate.  Sometimes,  when  searching  for  a  strange 
place,  we  suddenly,  to  our  surprise,  find  ourselves  there.  We 
took  the  right  turn  \^  ithout  being  aware  of  it ;  and  thus  many, 
in  their  anxiety  ani  confused  feelings,  really  exercise  true 
submission,  and  find  themselves  at  peace  with  God,  without 
being  aware,  at  the  time,  that  they  had  done  so  great  an  act 
as  that  of  believing  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Every  thing,  therefore,  depends  on  the  way  in  which  we 
propose  to  begin  the  Christian  life.  There  is  no  such  thing 
as  entering  the  w^ay  to  heaven  wrong,  and  coming  out  right, 
for  God  has  only  one  method  of  receiving  us.  When  we 
insist  on  this  we  appear  to  some  illiberal.  But  we  did  not 
invent  the  way  of  salvation.  We  did  not  fix  its  terms.  We 
speak  only  that  which  we  find  revealed,  and  which  we  have, 
by  our  experience,  found  to  be  true.  For  we  discovered  that, 
befoi-e  we  could  proceed  in  religion,  the  atonement  of  Christ 
must  take  effect  "■  for  the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past, 
through  the  forbearance  of  God."  We  needed,  first  of  all,  for- 
giveness and  reconciliation.  This  we  sought  and  found  by 
faith  in  the  atoning  work  of  Christ.  After  that,  a  life  of  virtue 
and  piety,  of  love  and  obedience,  of  growth  in  grace  and  in 
the  knowledge  of  cur  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  was 
seen  to  be  required,  and  we  saw  it  to  be  provided  for,  through 
the  renewing  and  sanctifying  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
who  has  an  equal  part  with  the  Redeemer  in  the  work  of 
saving  man. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  second  part  of  our  subject.  In- 
dispensable as  we  find  the  act  of  justification  to  be,  and  stren- 


INS-TANTANEOUS  CONVERSION.      17 

uously  as  we  insist  that  men  must  experience  it,  and,  with  it, 
at  one  and  the  same  time,  regeneration,  we  also  insist  that  this 
is  only  preparatory  to  something  else.  True,  the  dying  man 
who  believes  is  saved  by  his  faith,  without  its  accompanying 
evidence  and  fruit  of  good  works ;  and  he  experiences  the 
renewing  of  his  nature,  for  Christ's  sake,  in  connection  with 
his  faith.  But,  to  borrow  the  inspired  expression,  "  they 
which  live  "  are  to  evince  their  faith  by  certain  consequences 
flowing  from  it,  without  which  their  faith  is  vain.  The 
apostle  says  to  those  "  who  have  obtained  like  precious  faith 
with  us  through  the  knowledge  of  God  and  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord,"  "  And  besides  this,  giving  all  diligence,  add  to  your 
faith  virtue."  For  they  have  only  begun  to  experience  the 
great  purpose  for  which  they  were  converted. 

To  be  a  Christian  —  blessed  be  God — is  not  merely  to  obtain 
a  verdict  of  acquittal.  It  was  not  for  this  alone  than  the  plan 
of  human  redemption  began  "  before  the  world  was."  The 
work  of  atonement,  and  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  have 
not  achieved  their  great  design  when  the  sinner  is  simply  dis- 
charged from  the  punishment  which  he  has  merited.  "  He 
shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins."  "  God,  having  raised 
up  his  Son  Jesus,  sent  him  to  bless  you,  by  turning  every  one 
of  you  away  from  his  iniquities." 

It  is  not  to  be  concealed,  that  some  are  entirely  satisfied 
with  having  a  hope  that  they  are  forgiven. 

If  we  should  see  a  child  who  had  done  wrong,  and  had  been 
weeping,  and  who  had  obtained  forgiveness  for  some  great 
sin,  exulting  with  his  playmates,  and  saying,  "  I  am  not  to  be 
punished,"  and  that  should  appear  to  be  his  sole  leflection 
with  regard  to  the  transactions  between  himself  and  his  father, 
we  should  say,  "  You  certainly  have  light  views  of  your  mis- 
conduct, and  we  more  than  doubt  the  sincerity  of  your  pro- 
fessed repentance."  There  is  no  religion  without  repentance 
2* 


18  INSTANTANEOUS     CONVERSI'ON. 

of  sin.  He  who,  in  any  way  or  for  any  reason,  has  merely 
obtained  a  hope  that  he  shall  not  be  punished,  and  has  not 
been  humbled  by  the  thought  of  his  sinfulness,  proceeding 
from  an  evil  nature,  and  who  does  not  feel  that  for  the  iniquity 
of  his  heart  and  life  he  deserves  nothing  but  displeasure  from 
God,  and  that  all  his  future  obedience  cannot  make  recom- 
pense for  his  sins,  nor  abate  his  obligations  for  the  infinite 
sacrifice  which  his  sins  have  cost,  and,  besides,  that  he  is  con- 
tinually doing  and  feeling  that  which,  to-day,  needs  the  blood 
of  atonement^  as  really  as  when  he  was  first  pardoned,  has 
never  had  proper  views  of  himself,  and  of  forgiveness,  and  of 
Christ's  atoning  and  redeeming  work.  Such  a  man  will  be 
likely,  when  the  novelty  of  his  experience  has  passed  away,  to 
sin  again  without  much  compunction.  He  will  have  low 
views  of  the  divine  requirements  and  of  holiness.  It  will  be 
wdth  him  as  with  those  who  draw  money  in  a  lottery,  and  find 
it  easy  to  part  with  that  which  came  at  no  expense. 

But  when  we  feel  that  the  pardon  of  sin  was  procured  at 
infinite  cost,  and  the  evil  of  sinning  against  God  —  not  mere- 
ly against  our  own  interests,  but  against  God  —  makes  a 
suitable  impression,  we  dread  the  thought  of  repeating  those 
things  of  which  we  have  repented ;  we  fear,  most  of  all,  the 
thought  of  sinning  against  Him  who  was  wounded  for  our 
transgressions. 

The  repentance  which  is  actuated  by  sorrow,  awakened  by 
considerations  of  the  character  of  God  and  our  obligations  to 
him,  is  repentance  unto  life  not  to  be  repented  of.  Inasmuch 
as  doing  wrong  is  our  great  sorrow,  it  is  not  our  greatest  joy 
that  we  are  forgiven,  but  that  God  will  help  us  to  love  holiness 
and  to  seek  for  it ;  our  great  desire  is,  to  be  conformed  to  the 
will  of  God.  pis  law  is  still  our  standard  ;  our  aim  is  perfect 
conformity  to  his  will  and  image.  Thus,  being  sincerely  pen- 
itent, the  blood  of  Christ  has  cleansed  us  from  the  legal  conse- 


INSTANTANEOUS      CONVERSION.  19 

quences  of  sin,  and  it  will  progressively  cleanse  us ;  that  is, 
lead  us  to  purify  ourselves  from  all  filthiness  of  the  flesh  and 
spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God. 

We  must  "  add  to  our  faith  virtue."  In  its  highest,  largest 
sense,  we  must  be  virtuous.  We  must  let  religion,  like  a 
healthful  wind,  sweep  through  all  parts  of  the  character,  as 
such  a  wind  is  welcomed  into  the  opened  apartments  of  a 
dwelling  where  sickness  has  long  infested  and  infected  every 
thing.  We  must  be  improved  every  way,  in  our  private  rela- 
tions, in  our  business,  in  our  habits,  in  our  disposition,  in  our 
whole  character.  They  "that  believe  in  God"  must  "be 
careful  to  maintain  good  works."  To  profess  that  religion  has 
the  ascendency  in  us,  and  yet  to  be  deficient  in  good  morals, 
is  so  palpable  an  absurdity  that  it  is  every  where  viewed 
with  disgust.  Large  portions  of  the  doctrinal  Epistles  are  oc- 
cupied with  exhortations  to  strict  morality.  A  good  man  in 
one  of  our  churches  uniformly  inquired  of  candidates  for  ad- 
mission to  the  church,  when  under  examination,  whether  they 
loved  to  read  the  one  hundred  and  nineteenth  Psalm ;  because 
he  knew  that  in  that  psalm  we  have  constant  protestations  of 
desires  for  holiness,  and  of  love  for  the  commandments  of  God, 
as  well  as  for  his  promises.  "  I  will  never  forget  thy  precepts, 
for  with  them  hast  thou  quickened  me."  "  My  hands  also  will 
I  lift  up  unto  thy  commandments,  which  I  have  loved." 

When  we  are  told  to  add  virtue  to  faith,  some  prefer  to 
give  the  more  specific,  and,  as  they  say,  the  more  strictly  cor- 
rect interpretation  to  virtue,  as  meanmg  fortitude,  —  the  origi- 
nal word  for  virtue  being  derived  from  the  name  of  Mars. 
They  would  therefore  regard  the  apostle  as  exhorting  us,  hav- 
ing believed  on  Christ  and  professed  our  new  relation  to  him, 
to  be  courageous  and  firm  in  our  Christian  profession ;  never 
to  be  ashamed  of  our  principles  nor  of  our  Master ;  never  tc 
be  daunted  by  opposition,  or  by  ill  success,  nor  to  cower  in 


20  INSTANTANEOUS      CONVERSION. 

the  presence  of  unbelievers ;  but  when  Christ  is  reproached 
through  the  truths  which  he  has  enforced  upon  us,  to  say,  "  Let 
us  go  forth,  therefore,  unto  him  boldly  without  the  camp,  bear- 
ing Lis  reproach."  Surely  this  is  properly  included  in  the 
term  virtue,  while  the  real  signification  of  the  term,  here, 
seems  to  require  a  more  extended  definition. 

Religion  is  rational ;  add,  therefore,  to  "  virtue,  knowledge.'* 
"  God  is  light,  and  in  him  is  no  darkness  at  all."  The  objects 
of  faith  are  above  reason,  and  incomprehensible  ;  yet  there  is 
nothing  in  one  of  them  which  does  violence  to  the  human  rea- 
son ;  and  after  the  mind  has  consented  to  the  supremacy  of 
revelation,  its  preternatural  truths  are  perfectly  harmonious 
with  all  our  feelings  ;  in  proof  of  which,  witness  the  heartfelt 
satisfaction  and  joy  imparted  by  the  firm  belief  of  the  inscru- 
table things  of  revelation.  As  vegetation,  which  is  a  great  mys- 
tery, pours  out  fruits  and  flowers  upon  the  earth,  so  the  mysteries 
of  religion  are  a  soil  loaded  with  the  richest  products.  Igno- 
rance is  not  the  mother  of  devotion.  We  must.be  something 
more  than  fervent  and  zealous.  Emotion  which  is  not  founded  in 
truth  soon  wearies  itself  and  others.  We  must  be  instructed. 
Some  young  converts,  overjoyed  by  their  discovery  of  the 
way  to  be  saved,  are  tempted  to  think  that  they  know  every 
tiling  in  religion  which  is  to  be  known.  They  will  do  well  to 
reflect  how  ignorant  they  have  been  all  their  lifetime  ;  "  fool- 
ish, disobedient,  serving  divers  lusts  and  pleasures,  living 
in  malice  and  envy,  hateful  and  hating  one  another."  And 
now  that  "  the  kindness  and  love  of  God  our  Saviour  towards  " 
them  has  appeared,  while  it  should  make  them  confident  and 
strong  in  his  love  and  power,  it  should  also  make  them  exceed- 
ingly diffident  and  circumspect,  esteeming  others  better  than 
themselves,  "  submitting  themselves  unto  the  elder,"  seeking 
to  be  instructed  by  the  experience  of  those  of  whom  they  can 
say,  as  the  apostle  Paul,  with  beautiful  modesty,  says  of  some, 
*'  who  also  were  in  Christ  before  me." 


INSTANTANEOUS      CONVERSION.  21 

It  is  a  hopeful  sign  when  a  young  Christian  begins  imme- 
diately to  study  the  Bible,  inquiring  as  to  the  best  ways  of 
reading  it  for  devotional  purposes,  and  for  instruction,  seeking 
the  best  helps  in  doing  so,  and  manifesting  a  preference  for  the 
word  of  God  above  all  the  uninspired  writings  even  of  the 
best  of  men.  There  is  no  better  answer  to  be  given,  gener- 
ally, when  young  Christians  ask  us,  "  What  books  shall  I  read  ?  '* 
than  to  say,  "  The  Bible."  The  most  intelligent  believers  and 
the  most  useful  Christians  are  they  who  are  thoroughly  im- 
bued with  the  spirit  and  language  of  the  sacred  Scriptures. 
That  is  a  singular  commendation,  with  the  reason  for  it  an- 
nexed, which  is  bestowed  on  the  early  Berean  converts,  as 
being  more  "  noble  "  than  they  of  Thessalonica,  because  they 
"  searched  the  Scriptures  daily,  whether  those  things  were  so." 

Self-control  must  now  be  strengthened.  "  Add  to  knowl- 
edge, temperance."  Religion  must  master  our  appetites  and 
passions,  through  the  power  of  love  to  God  united  with  the 
implanted  principle  of  aversion  to  sin,  and  love  of  holiness, 
which  we  receive  at  regeneration.  Every  thing  is  defective  in 
our  experience  if  obedience  be  not  a  fruit  of  it.  "  If  a  man 
love  me,  he  will  keep  my  words."  "  Herein  is  love,  that  we 
keep  his  commandments,  and  do  those  things  which  are  pleas- 
ing in  his  sight."  Religion  is  conformity  to  God,  not  a  mere 
hope  of  being  forgiven,  not  simply  a  persuasion  of  having 
been  regenerated.  The  great  object  of  our  redemption  is  to 
restore  in  us  the  image  of  God.  We  are  to  have  the  same 
standard  of  obedience,  —  that  is,  the  perfect  law  of  God, — now 
that  we  are  redeemed  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  as  we  should 
have  were  our  salvation  to  depend  upon  our  obedience.  Nor 
is  our  obligation  to  keep  it  lessened  by  our  inability ;  for  the 
law  of  God  is  not  graduated  upon  a  moving  scale,  suiting  itself 
to  the  different  moral  capacities  of  the  different  subjects  of  the 
divine  government.     The  substance  of  the  law  is,  "Be  ye 


22  INSTANTANEOUS     CONVERSION. 

therefore  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect." 
Failing  of  this,  we  cannot  reduce  the  requirements  of  the  law 
to  our  ability ;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  does  sin  lose  any  thing 
of  its  guilt,  nor  human  imperfection  obtain  acceptance  at  a 
more  favorable  rate.  But  "  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for 
righteousness."  God  cannot  cease  to  demand  perfection  of  us. 
And  if  this  be  unattainable  by  reason  of  our  apostasy,  is  the 
obligation  thereby  impaired?  By  no  means.  Provision  for 
our  salvation  is  made,  in  the  atonement,  of  another  righteous- 
ness, "even  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  through  faith  ;" 
and,  at  the  same  time,  we  are  to  aim  constantly  at  perfect  con- 
formity to  God.  Some  murmur  at  this,  as  though  it  were  a 
hard  saying.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  a  cause  for  gratitude 
that  God  does  still  propose  to  us  the  perfect  standard  of  his 
own  infinitely  blessed  nature,  as  the  mark  at  which  we  are  to 
aim.  He  has  provided  against  the  certain  failure  of  our  best 
endeavors,  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  while  he  bids  us 
keep  our  eye  fixed  on  himself  as  the  standard  of  duty  and 
effort.  It  is  to  be  our  lifelong  effort  to  be  increasingly  good. 
"  For  whom  he  did  foreknow  he  also  did  predestinate  to  be 
conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son,"  not  merely  to  be  saved 
from  punishment.  It  was  to  maintain  the  cause  of  holiness  in 
the  universe  that  our  redemption  took  place.  Our  forgive- 
ness, regeneration,  and  final  salvation  have  this  for  their  chief 
end,  to  reestablish  the  perfect  authority  of  God  over  us,  and, 
perhaps,  to  strengthen  that  authority  in  other  subjects  of  the 
divine  government.  Hence  we  give  evidence  that  religion 
has  obtained  dominion  over  us,  that  we  possess  religion,  only 
as  it  makes  us  more  and  more  like  Christ.  If  we  give  the 
reins  to  our  appetites  and  passions,  if  we  are  seen  hankering 
after  worldly  pleasure,  if  we  do  not  govern  our  tongues,  if  our 
evil  tempers  and  dispositions  are  not  modified,  if  we  are  capa- 
ble of  dishonesty  or  falsehood,  a  hope  of  having  been  con 


INSTANTANEOUS     CONVERSION.  23 

verted,  and  the  most  splendid  religious  experience,  so  called, 
will  not  save  us  from  the  mortification  and  dismay  which 
those  words  of  Christ  will  certainly  inflict  upon  us  —  "I  never 
knew  you." 

There  is  a  higher  exercise  of  religious  principle  even  than 
in  sclf-contrjl  as  applied  to  the  government  of  our  passions. 
"  Patience "  is  a  more  perfect  proof  that  we  are  bearing 
Christ's  yoke.  In  the  trials  of  our  several  conditions,  we 
"  have  need  of  patience,  that  after  we  have  done  the  will  of 
God,  we  should  inherit  the  promises."  After  self-denying, 
active  service,  after  the  most  persevering  watchfulness  against 
temptation,  and  *  keeping  under  the  body  and  bringing  it  in 
subjection,'  some  protracted  sorrow  or  trial,  ill  health,  misfor- 
tune, disappointment,  some  bitter  loss,  will  seem  to  shut  down, 
like  a  cloud  with  no  sunlight  beneath  it,  upon  our  prospect ; 
and  then  we  are  called  to  an  exercise  of  confidence  in  God, 
and  of  submission  to  him,  such  as  no  previous  trials  occa- 
sioned. Great  stress  is  laid  in  the  Bible  on  "  enduring."  To 
bear  secret,  heavy  trials,  "with  all  long  suffering  and 
joyfulness,"  is  a  preeminent  proof  that  God  is  our  portion, 
and  that  liis  will  is  our  delight.  This  is  pure  religion  and 
undefiled. 

All  this  creates  in  us  that  habitual  holy  living  which  is 
called  "  godliness  ; "  the  all-pervading  influence  of  godly  fear 
and  childlike  love  becoming  an  atmosphere  in  which  we  »-«ive 
our  being.  But  religion  is  not  merely  contemplative.  It 
does  not  make  us  satisfied  with  meditations  upon  divine  thing.-:. 
It  is  a  beautiful  illustration  of  the  entirely  practical  nature  of 
true  religion,  that  social  duties  are  presented  as  a  necessary 
attendant  of  godliness.  "  And  this  commandment  have  wo 
from   him,  that  he   that  loveth  God    love   his   brother  also." 

Hence  we  are  told  that  we  must  add  to  godliness  "  brotherly 


24  INSTANTANEOUS    CONVERSION. 

kindness."  That  great  proficient  in  the  school  of  Christ,  the 
apostle  John,  occupies  much  of  one  Epistle  in  insisting  upon 
love  to  others  as  a  necessary  proof  and  fruit  of  loving  God. 
There  is  a  difference  between  love  and  kindness.  Less  pas- 
sionate, more  general  in  its  extent,  shedding  practical  benefits 
around  it  by  words,  and  acts,  and  looks,  kindness  in  the  dis- 
position, manners,  and  conduct  is  a  source  of  inestimable  hap- 
piness. It  cannot  be  affected.  It  is  felt  most  sensitively.  It 
goes  where  love  may  not  yet  go.  It  is  a  means  of  influence 
which  is  not  surpassed.  It  can  be  cultivated.  The  manners 
can  be  amended  so  as  to  comport  with  it.  Quickness  at  dis- 
cerning, and  promptness  in  relieving,  an  embarrassment,  or  an 
inconvenience,  or  a  positive  want,  is  capable  of  being  in- 
creased, and  should  be  studied. 

But  as  to  that  which  the  Bible  represents  as  the  crown  of 
human  excellence,  "  charity,"  so  different  from  every  other 
moral  quality,  no  uninspired  description,  no  picture  of  it,  is 
more  impressive,  and  more  readily  felt  and  understood,  than 
when  we  see  it  in  full  exercise,  as  we  almost  always  do,  in 
dying  Christians.  When  we  are  dying  we  love  every  body. 
All  our  animosities  subside.  We  take  kind  and  favorable 
views  of  others,  so  far  as  justice  allows.  We  embrace  all  in 
our  affectionate  desires  and  good  wishes.  When  the  cele- 
brated John  Eliot,  of  Roxbury,  was  near  to  death,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-six,  some  one  asked  him  how  he  did.  "  Alas  !  " 
said  he,  "  my  understanding,  my  memory,  my  tongue  fail  me. 
Every  thing  fails  me  except  my  charity.  I  think  that  rather 
grows  than  decreases."  Dr.  Increase  Mather,  then  in  London, 
sent  a  copy  of  his  son's  (Cotton  Mather's)  Life  of  Eliot  to 
Richard  Baxter,  who  was  near  his  end,  and  was  suffering 
with  a  peculiarly  painful  illness.  Mr.  Baxter  roused  himself, 
and  wrote  as  follows  to  Dr.  Mather :  — 

"  Dear  Brother :  I  thought  I  had  been  near  dying  at  twelve 


INSTANTANEOUS    CONVERSION.  25 

o'clock,  in  bed,  but  your  book  revived  me.  I  lay  reading  it 
until  between  one  and  two.  I  am  now  dying,  I  hope,  as  Mr. 
Eliot  died.  It  pleased  me  to  read  from  him  my  case :  [J/y 
understanding  faileth,  my  memory  faileth,  my  tongue  faileth, 
(and  my  hand  and  pen  faileth,)  hut  my  charity  faileth  not.~\ 
That  word  much  comforted  me."  It  is  well  to  cultivate  that 
which,  on  the  verge  of  time,  we  perceive  to  be  the  spirit  of  the 
heavenly  world.  It  was  said  of  Mr.  Eliot,  towards  the  close 
of  life,  "  He  scented  more  of  the  spicy  country  at  which  he 
was  ready  to  put  ashore." 

It  is  noticeable  that  two  of  the  apostles  use  nearly  similar 
expressions  with  regard  to  the  preeminence  of  this  Christian 
quality.  Paul  says,  "  And  ahove  all  these  things,  put  on 
charity,  which  is  the  bond  of  perfectness."^  Peter  says, 
''  And  ahove  all  things,  have  fervent  charity  among  yourselves ; 
for  charity  shall  cover  the  multitude  of  sins."  ^ 

After  Peter  had  finished  the  enumeration  of  the  things 
which  he  says  a  Christian  must  add  to  his  "  faith,"  he  says, 
"  For  if  these  things  be  in  you,  and  abound,  they  make  you 
that  ye  shall  neither  be  barren  nor  unfruitful  in  the  knowledge 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  But  he  that  lacketh  these  things 
is  blind,  and  cannot  see  afar  off,  and  hath  forgotten  that  he 
is  purged  from  his  old  sins."^  He  means  to  say  that  one 
who  rests  in  merely  having,  as  he  supposes,  believed  on 
Christ,  and  does  not  proceed  to  the  cultivation  of  a  Christian 
character,  takes  an  extremely  limited  view  of  things,  has  no 
proper  conception  of  his  duty,  and  brings  discredit  on  his  repu- 
tation as  a  convert.  Why  did  he  repent  ?  Did  he  truly 
repent  ?  If  he  did,  it  was  not  merely  to  obtain  pardon ;  he 
became  averse  to  sin  ;   and  now,  his  life  will  be  a  constant 

*  Col.  iii.  14.  2  1  Pet.  iv.  8.  3  2  Pet.  i.  8,  9. 

a 


26  INSTANTANEOUS    CONVERSION. 

struggle  against  it ;  —  as  the  apostle  intimates,  when  he  enjoins 
upon  us  to  "  take  the  whole  armor  of  God,"  and  when  we 
have  "done  all,  to  stand,"  —  that  is,  waiting  and  watching,  in 
armor,  for  those  assaults  which  will  surely  come.  He  will  no 
more  be  satisfied  with  having  been  converted,  than  a  man  upon 
a  journey  is  satisfied  with  merely  changing  his  direction,  at 
finding  himself  upon  the  wrong  road. 

But  if  we  proceed  as  we  began,  being  still  penitent  for  sin, 
looking  for  pardon  through  Christ,  depending  constantly  not  on 
works,  nor  discouraged  at  deficiencies  and  remaining  evil  with- 
in us,  but  trusting  to  the  righteousness  of  Christ  for  justifica- 
tion, and  at  the  same  time,  while  delivered  from  the  condemn- 
ing sentence  of  the  law,  making  that  law,  in  all  its  spiritual 
application,  our  rule  of  life,  and  so  endeavoring  to  improve  in 
all  goodness,  —  what  will  follow  ?  "  If  ye  do  these  things  ye 
shall  never  fall ;  for  so  an  entrance  shall  be  ministered  unto 
you  abundantly,  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  No  "  strait  gate "  will  open  to  re- 
ceive us ;  but  in  proportion  to  our  proficiency  in  goodness  will 
be  our  welcome  and  our  crown.  For,  while  our  works  are  not 
the  ground  of  our  justification,  they  are  the  ground  of  our 
reward.  One  passage,  occurring  where  we  should  not  look  for 
it,  expresses  in  few  words  the  great  truth,  that  sinners  justified 
and  saved  by  mere  mercy,  are,  nevertheless,  rewarded  in  pro-, 
portion  to  their  goodness  :  "Also  unto  thee,  O  Lord,  belongeth 
mercy :  for  thou  renderest  to  every  man  according  to  his 
works."  ^  Justice  would  seem  to  some  more  appropriately  to 
be  illustrated  by  such  reward  ;  but  to  those  who  have  forfeited 
every  thing  by  sin,  and  whose  prayers  and  praises,  even,  are 
accepted  only  through  a  propitiation  for  sin,  it  surely  is 
"  mercy  "  to  afford  them  the  opportunity  of  increasing  in  good- 
ness, with  its  consequences. 

1  Ps.  Ixii.  12. 


■       INSTANTANEOUS    CONVLRSION.  27 

These  things,  therefore,  we  teach  and  exhort,  insisting  upon 
the  one  great  act  of  believing  on  Christ  as  an  atoning  sacri- 
fice, by  which  we  obtain  peace  with  God,  and  receive  a  pre- 
ternatural change,  which  makes  spiritual  things  perceptible 
and  congenial ;  and  then  we  declare,  that  this  is  but  the  en- 
trance, the  enrolment,  the  initiation  ;  and  that  the  sincerity  of 
this  great  experience  is  to  be  shown  by  increasing  conformity 
to  the  will  of  God.  Neither  of  these  two  parts  of  Christian 
experience  can  exist  without  the  other. 

For  a  man  may  be  the  most  perfect  of  moralists,  and  if 
this  be  all  he  will  yet  fail  to  be  saved ;  because  God  has  not 
appointed  morality  to  be  the  ground  of  justification.  A  man 
cannot  "  have  peace  with  God  "  till  he  has  had  such  a  sense 
of  sin  as  to  see  and  feel  his  need  of  atoning  blood.  His 
morals  may  be  commended  by  men  ;  but  at  heart  he  has 
had  no  proper  view  of  sin,  nor  of  his  relation  to  God  as  a 
subject  of  his  government.  There  is  no  true  Christian  mo- 
rality without  such  a  view  of  sin  as  God  takes  of  it ;  and  his 
view  of  sin  is  expressed  in  the  great  propitiation  for  sin  —  iii 
his  having  "  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us  who  knew  no  sin,  that 
we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  hi  him." 

But  having  exercised  faith  in  this  propitiation,  and  having 
experienced  a  change,  which  is  not  merely  that  of  the  govern- 
ing purpose,  but  a  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  which  consti- 
tutes as  real  a  bias  towards  good,  though  constantly  affected 
by  our  evil  nature,  as  the  natural  state  of  the  soul  is  biased 
towards  evil,  we  strenuously  insist  that  the  individual  must 
prove  this  to  have  taken  place  in  him,  by  a  life  of  piety  and 
morality. 

It  will  not  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  that  we  make  so  much 
of  conversion.  We  do  not  require  a  man  to  tell  us  the  precise 
time  when  this  change  took  place.  Richard  Baxter  says  that 
he  was  once  in  company  with  forty  ministers  who  related  their 


28  INSTANTANEOUS     CONVERSION. 

religious  experience,  and  not  one  of  tliem,  so  it  happened, 
could  specify  the  time  when  he  was  conscious  of  first  believing 
on  Christ.  This,  indeed,  was  a  rare  occurrence  ;  but  the 
cases  are  not  only  frequent,  —  they  are  such  as  to  inspire 
tlie  utmost  confidence  in  the  reality  of  a  divine  work  upon 
the  heart,  in  which  the  subjects  of  it  cannot  point  to  the  time 
when  it  took  place.  As  there  is  a  moment  when  the  tide 
ceases  to  ebb  and  begins  to  flow,  there  is  a  moment  when  the 
change  in  our  religious  feelings  and  character  takes  place. 
There  are  signs,  apart  from  dates  and  strict  historical  knowl- 
edge, which  evince  that  saving  faith  has  been  exercised,  that 
a  preternatural  change  has  been  experienced ;  and  finding 
these  signs,  we  are  "  confident  of  this  very  thing,  that  he 
Avhich  hath  begun  a  good  work  in  you,  will  perform  it  until 
the  day  of  Jesus  Christ."  We  then  look  for  a  life  of  increas- 
ing conformity  to  God.  If  we  find,  however,  that  an  indi- 
vidual has  never  known  what  it  is  to  trust  in  the  atoning 
death  of  the  Redeemer,  we  are  sure  that  he  has  never  ex- 
perienced the  change  of  nature  which  is  essential  to  the  new 
spiritual  life ;  because  the  work  of  Christ,  and  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  heart,  are  inseparable. 

There  is  a  way  of  speaking  about  the  dangers  of  self-decep- 
tion, and  of  warning  and  cautioning  people  not  to  be  su^^er- 
ficial,  which  discourages  their  efforts  to  do  the  first  essential 
things  in  becoming  Christians.  Neither  Christ  nor  his  apostles 
dwell  on  the  infinite  importance  of  sincerity  and  perseverance 
in  this  way.  Let  the  first  things  be  rightly  done,  and  we 
may  be  sure  that  every  thing  else  will  follow  in  its  time  and 
place.  For  while  we  do  not  cease  to  be  free  agents  after  we 
are  converted,  but  warnings,  tlireatenings,  and  promises  are 
still  addressed  to  us,  showing  that  the  government  of  God  over 
us  is  still  a  government  of  motives,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that 
God  has  a  part  to  2:)erform  in  the  work  of  our  perseverance 


INSTANTANEOUS     CONVERSION.  29 

and  sanctiticatlon.  The  new  nature  is  indestructible.  It  does 
not  consist  merely  in  a  series  of  volitions,  which  may  cease, 
and  leave  us  as  we  were  before ;  but  whoever  believes  in 
Christ  is  born  again.  He  will  persevere  in  holiness  aiKl  be 
saved. 

Towards  midnight,  perhaps,  we  hear  some  one  approach 
our  dwelling,  ascend  to  the  lantern,  and  as  quickly  descend, 
leaving  a  clear,  steady  light  in  the  lantern,  and,  it  may 
be,  in  the  midst  of  wind  and  rain.  We  may  have  been 
struck  with  the  quickness  with  which  the  flame  was  lighted. 
Though  kindled  in  an  instant,  it  would  burn,  day  and  night, 
for  years  ;  for  there  is  somewhere  an  unfailing  supply  which 
feeds  it.  Great  preparations  had  been  made  for  that  flame, 
though  kindled  by  a  single  touch. 

So  it  is  with  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul.  From  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world  that  soul  was  chosen ;  provision  was  made  for 
its  redemption  and  salvation  ;  the  great  plan  of  mercy  in  its 
behalf  was  arranged  in  the  councils  of  eternity ;  instruction, 
discipline,  conviction,  all  have  done  their  useful,  necessary 
work ;  but  all  is  in  vain  unless  the  hand  of  the  Spirit  kindle 
it  into  a  flame.  As  the  material  prepared  for  the  light  in  the 
lantern  might  flow  into  the  air,  to  the  end  of  time,  to  no  good 
purpose,  if  it  be  not  lighted,  so  all  our  knowledge  of  God,  and 
of  moral  and  religious  subjects,  our  natural  and  acquired 
endowments,  cannot  of  themselves  afford  us  the  light  of  hfe. 
They  cannot  light  themselves.  That  light  is  communicated 
in  a  moment,  and  supernaturally.  Its  consequences  are  to  be 
eternal,  but  it  is  communicated  at  once. 

This  is  supernatural  conversion.  Every  son  and  daughter 
of  Adam  needs  it.  Christ  told  Nicodemus  that  without  it 
no  man  can  see  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  requires  the  exer- 
cise of  our  powers  and  faculties,  our  choice,  our  efforts,  as 
really  as  though  there  were  not  divine  agency  in  it.  At  the 
3* 


30  INSTANTANEOUS     CONVERSION. 

same  time  there  is  that  connected  with  it  —  blessed  be  God  ! 
—  which  is  "  not  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man, 
but  of  God."  We  are  voluntary  and  active  in  this  change. 
We  repent,  we  accept  Christ,  unconscious  of  divine  aid,  yet 
feeling  our  entire  dependence  upon  it,  and  when  we  comply 
with  the  requirements  of  the  gospel  in  the  exercise  of  our 
natural  powers,  it  is  because  "  God  shines  into  our  hearts,  to 
give  us  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  as  it 
is  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."  And  thus,  while  it  is  all  of 
grace,  God  has  so  arranged  the  method  by  which  it  is  obtained 
that  every  one  may,  by  the  use  of  the  appointed  means, 
more  surely  be  converted,  even,  than  he  can  produce  light  at 
his  lamp  by  the  use  of  the  ordinary  means.  Not  only  so, 
God  commands  it.  He  makes  it  the  duty  of  every  one  to 
experience  it  without  delay.     "  Repent  te,  therefore,  and 

BE  CONVERTED,  THAT  YOUR  SINS  MAY  BE  BLOTTED  OUT, 
WHEN  THE  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING  SHALL  COME  FROM  THE 
PRESENCE    OF    THE    LORD." 


II. 
JUSTIFICATION 

AND    ITS   CONSEQUENCES 


When  we  read,  "  Blessed  is  the  man  to  whom  the  Lord 
will  not  impute  sin,"  we  see  the  dawn  of  the  great  idea  con- 
tained in  that  which  is  called  justification  by  faith  in  Christ. 
Blessed,  indeed,  must  he  be  to  whom  God  will  not  impute  sin ; 
for  if  this  be  secured,  all  is  well.  If  God  does  not  impute  sin,  it 
must  be  for  reasons  and  upon  principles  which  protect  and  honor 
his  own  character,  while  the  ultimate  holiness  of  those  who 
are  pardoned  will  also  be  secured.  But  if  there  be  any  thing 
which  we  should  beforehand  pronounce  impossible,  it  would  be 
that  sin  should  not  be  imputed,  or  that  its  punishment  should 
be  remitted.  With  a  past  life  of  transgression,  with  a  sinful 
nature,  remaining  so  till  death,  it  would  seem  impossible  that 
we  could  ever,  in  this  world,  be  in  such  a  relation  to  God 
that  sin  should  not  be  imputed  to  us.  All  analogies  are 
against  it.  Pardon  in  the  state  and  in  the  family  is  followed 
by  conformity  to  law ;  but  if  a  citizen  or  a  child  should,  after 
being  once  forgiven,  be  as  blame-worthy  as  every  sinner  must 
ever  be  in  this  world,  when  judged  by  the  perfect  law  of  God, 
there  would  be  no  such  thing  as  not  imputing  sin.  And 
yet  this  is  the  corner-stone  of  all  evangelical  truth,  "  to  wit, 

(31) 


32  JUSTIFICATION 

that  God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,  not 
imputing  their  trespasses  unto  them."  Jesus  Christ,  by  his  suf- 
ferings and  death,  has  done  that  which  is  imputed  to  every  one 
who  believes  in  him  ;  it  takes  the  place  of  the  sinner's  personal 
righteousness  ;  so  that  the  sinner,  by  exercising  faith  in  Christ, 
is  thereby  reckoned  as  innocent,  and  is  treated  accordingly. 
"  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one 
that  believeth;"  that  is,  the  law  which  requires  obedience,  and 
threatens  death  for  disobedience,  accomplishes  its  end  in  every 
one  who  believes  in,  and  pleads,  the  sufferings  and  death  of 
Christ  as  the  ground  of  pardon. 

If  one  should  take  a  pen,  to  express  in  the  clearest  and 
strongest  terms  the  idea  of  being  pardoned  and  saved  in  con- 
sequence of  sufferings  and  death  endured  by  one  for  another, 
he  could  not,  after  the  greatest  deliberation,  write  any  thing 
more  clear  or  strong  than  the  language  of  the  Bible  is,  when 
speaking  of  salvation  by  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  in 
our  stead. 

"  He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised 
for  our  iniquities ;  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon 
him,  and  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed.  All  we  like  sheep 
have  gone  astray,  —  and  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity 
of  us  all."  "  After  threescore  and  two  weeks  shall  Messiah 
be  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself."  "  He  bare  the  sins  of  many." 
"  Who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree." 
"  Whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  through 
faith  in  his  blood."  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world."  "  Unto  him  that  loved  us,  and 
washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood."  "  Thou  wast 
slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood,  out  of  every 
kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people,  and  nation." 

The  doctrine  of  salvation,  as  evangelical  Christians  hold  it, 
is,  that  in  the  Godhead  there  is  a  plural  mode  of  existence  ; 


AND     ITS     CONSEQUENCES.  83 

that  the  Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  are  one  only- 
living  and  true  God ;  that  "  the  Word  became  flesh,"  was 
"  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  for  the  suffering  of  death,  — 
that  he,  by  the  grace  of  God,  should  taste  death  for  every 
man  ;  "  that  his  whole  work  of  obedience,  suffering,  and  dying 
constitutes,  by  divine  appointment,  an  equivalent  for  the 
merited  punishment  of  sin,  and  it  is  made  the  ground  on  which 
sin  can  be  forgiven  consistently  with  justice.  The  supreme 
Deity  of  Christ  is  essential  to  an  atonement.  If  Christ  be  not 
divine,  his  work  is  merely  a  pathetic  exhibition  of  interest  in 
human  welfare,  not  a  vicarious  sacrifice.  To  reverse  the 
proposition,  if  "  the  Word  was  God,"  the  sufferings  and  death 
of  Christ  could  not  have  been  a  mere  expression  of  sympathy  ; 
but  all  the  strong  expressions  relating  to  redemption  by  his 
blood,  require  a  vicarious  sacrifice  to  warrant  the  amazing 
interposition  of  God  made  flesh,  and  making  "  intercession  for 
the  transgressors." 

Some  reply  to  all  this  by  saying  that  it  is  "  figurative," 
"  metaphorical,"  "  Oriental  exaggeration  ; "  that  the  thing  itself 
is  so  "  improbable,"  and  "  impossible,"  that  the  interpretation  of 
the  words,  however  explicit,  must  be  controlled  by  making  a 
large  allowance  for  the  boldness  of  the  figures. 

If  this  be  so,  we  may,  perhaps,  agree  with  those  who  also 
tell  us,  that  God  cannot  make  a  revelation  to  the  whole  world 
by  human  language.  For,  employing,  as  he  must,  the  minds 
and  speech  of  men  in  certain  countries,  and  at  certain  times, 
such  is  the  diversity  in  modes  of  thought  and  expression,  that 
men  of  no  other  times  and  countries  can  arrive  at  any  certain 
knowledge  of  what  is  intended  in  the  revelation. 

But  we  call  in  question  the  principles  upon  which  they 
interpret  the  language  of  the  Bible.  They  apply  rules  to  it 
which  they  w^ould  not,  for  the  sake  of  their  reputation  as 
scholars  and  men  of  good  understanding,  apply  to  any  other 


34  JUSTIFICATION 

writings.  When  a  careless  or  a  passionate  man  uses  figurative 
language,  we  subtract  something  from  it  in  determining  the 
truth.  When  a  serious  and  honest  speaker  or  writer  labors 
to  convey  an  idea,  or  to  make  an  impression,  with  figurative 
language,  we  know  that  it  is  because  literal  speech  fails  to 
express  his  conceptions,  and  we,  therefore,  rather  add  some- 
thing to  the  amount  of  meaning  in  his  symbols  than  detract 
from  it.  Only  in  things  of  infinite  moment,  in  things  which 
relate  to  them  as  sinners,  and  to  their  peril  and  their  redemp- 
tion, do  men  view  language  transcendentally,  and  thus  pervert 
its  meaning.  —  Let  us  take  a  view  of  the  Brazen  Serpent  cor- 
responding to  that  which  is  thus  taken  of  salvation  by  the  suf- 
ferings and  death  of  Christ. 

A  man  lies  on  his  bed  in  the  tent,  suffering  from  a  fiery 
serpent's  bite.  Friends  tell  him  that  God  has  commanded 
Moses  to  make  a  serpent  of  brass  and  set  it  upon  a  pole, 
and  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  whoever  is  bitten,  if  he  will  look 
upon  the  brazen  serpent,  he  shall  live.  They  prepare  to 
remove  the  bed  to  the  tent  door,  that  the  dying  man  may  cast 
his  eye  to  the  appointed  symbol  and  be  saved. 

One  of  the  friends,  however,  interposes.  He  has  not  seen 
the  brazen  serpent.  Indeed,  he  would  not  lift  his  eye  to  be 
more  satisfied  than  he  is  that  such  a  way  of  being  cured  is 
preposterous.  There  is  no  possible  connection,  he  says,  be- 
tween a  brazen  serpent  and  the  bite  of  a  flying  serpent ; 
between  looking  at  something  upon  a  pole  and  the  cure  of  an 
envenomed  wound.  Can  the  sight  of  brass  cool  the  fevered 
blood  ?  The  very  look  at  the  image  of  a  serpent  would 
awaken  fresh  pain.  No  judicious  Levite  would  try  to  raise 
the  apparition  of  a  monster  for  the  cure  of  one  who  had  been 
wounded  by  that  monster.  The  whole  appointment,  there- 
fore, is  "  figurative,"  "  metaphorical ; "  there  is  no  pole,  no 
brazen  serpent,  yonder ;  but  the  meaning  of  God's  command 


AND     ITS      CONSEQUENCES.  35 

to  Moses  is  this  :  The  Infinite  Fatlier  wishes  to  have  his 
suflTering  children  meditate  ^upon  tlie  inliiction  which  he  has 
felt  compelled  to  send  upon  them,  by  means  of  venomous 
serpents,  for  their  salutary  chastisement.  They  must  get  a 
clear,  vivid  sense  of  their  transgression  ;  their  conceptions  of 
their  sin  must  be  as  real  and  deep  as  the  sight  of  a  shining 
brass  image  of  a  flying  serpent  would  be  impressive.  By  the 
"  pole,"  it  is  intimated  that  we  must  keep  the  subject  of  our 
sin  "lifted  up"  before  our  minds,  until  we  are  thoroughly 
penitent. 

And  now,  while  the  cured  and  grateful  patients  in  the 
encampment  come,  one  after  another,  to  the  tent  door,  beckon 
to  this  friend  of  the  dying  man,  and  beseech  him  just  to  turn 
the  bed  so  that  he  may  look  and  be  saved,  tlie  transcen- 
dentalist  replies  that,  if  Moses  himself  should  tell  him  to  do 
so,  he  has  too  much  confidence  in  the  wisdom  and  goodness 
of  the  Infinite  Father  to  believe  that  he  would  appoint  such 
a  means  of  cure.  "  Nehushtan  "  ^  he  would  call  it,  as  Heze- 
kiah  did  when  it  became  an  object  of  idolatry. 

But  let  us  hear  the  Son  of  God  :  "  And  as  Moses  lifted  up 
the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son  of  man  be 
lifted  up,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  eternal  life.  For  God  so  loved  the  world  that 
he  gave  his  only-begotteu  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  If  we  may 
have  the  same  confidence  in  language  that  relates  to  the 
concerns  of  our  souls  for  eternity,  which  we  do  not  hesitate  to 
repose  in  the  apparently  sincere  and  honest  words  of  a  phy- 
sician, or  in  the  instructions  received  from  our  superiors  in 
business  or  in  command,  we  cannot  be  at  a  loss  in  what  way  to 
understand  these  words  of  the  Saviour.  The  look  which  the 
wounded  Israelites  gave  at  the  appoin'ted  sign  was  an  act  of 

*  Or,  A  piece  of  brass.     1  Kings  xviii.  4. 


36  JUSTIFICATION 

faith.  It  was  not  for  them  to  know  why  that  method  0/  cure, 
rather  than  any  other,  was  appointed  ;  with  implicit  faith  they 
cast  their  eye  upon  it,  and  were  thereby  healed.  It  is  easy 
to  see  that  the  brazen  serpent,  reminding  them  of  their  pun- 
ishment, would  test  their  willingness  to  receive  a  cure  from 
the  hands  of  Him  whom  they  had  offended  ;  and  the  more 
obviously  gratuitous  the  cure  was  made  to  appear  by  the 
appointment  of  a  sign  which  had  no  necessary  connection 
with  medicine,  so  much  the  more  would  it  require  humility 
and  submission,  as  well  as  faith,  to  comply  with  this  appointed 
method  of  being  healed. 

"  Even  so,"  the  Saviour  says,  "  must  the  Son  of  man  be 
lifted  up."  But,  as  we  see  him  on  the  cross,  men  are  divided 
in  their  interpretations  of  the  design  in  that  crucifixion. 
Some  impute  a  wholly  metaphorical  meaning  to  the  act ;  they 
make  it  an  allegory.  Others  receive  it  as  literally  as  the 
plain  words  of  Christ,  literally  understood,  oblige  them,  by  the 
ordinary  rules  of  language,  to  receive  it.  Christ  was  "  lifted 
up  "  on  a  cross.  An  act  of  faith  in  him  is  as  necessary 
(and  it  is  as  sure)  to  save  the  soul,  as  the  look  at  the  brazen 
serpent  was  to  cure- the  victims  of  the  fiery  serpents.  We 
may  turn  it  all  into  poetry  and  myth  ;  we  may  allege  our 
preconceived  opinions  as  to  our  moral  necessities  against  such 
a  way  of  being  saved,  and  argue,  from  our  persuasion  con- 
cerning the  character  and  government  of  God,  that  the  literal 
sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  cannot  be  an  atonement  for  sin ; 
but,  while  we  do  this,  publicans  and  harlots  go  into  the  king- 
dom of  God  before  us ;  absurd  as  it  seems  to  us,  and  while 
we  try  to  represent  it  as  absurd,  many  around  us,  who  expe- 
rience that  great  religious  transformation  which  is  so  universal 
in  its  features,  viz.,  religious  conversion,  turn  from  every  form 
of  unbelief,  and  from  the  ministry  of  our  friends  who  deny  it, 
and,  with  intelligent,  strong  faith,  accept  the  literal  sufferings 


AND     ITS     CONSEQUENCES.  37 

and  death  of  the  Redeemer  as  the  ground  of  their  justification 
and  salvation. 

When  we  hear  Paul  say,  "  But  we  preach  Christ  cruci- 
fied," we  do  not  wonder  to  hear  him  add,  "  to  the  Jews  a 
stumbling  block,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness."  True,  it  is 
strange  that  with  Moses  and  the  prophets  in  their  hands,  and 
the  smoke  of  their  altars  going  up  in  sight  of  Calvary,  the 
Jews  should  not  have  recognized  in  Christ  the  Lamb  of 
God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world ;  or  that  the 
Greeks  should  not  have  been  convinced,  by  such  teachings 
and  miracles  as  those  of  Christ,  that  he  was  that  Lamb  of 
God.  But  we  know  that  when  our  sinful  will  and  pride 
are  assailed,  belief  is  by  no  means  according  to  evidence. 
Even  after  they  had  seen  Jesus  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind, 
*  then  came  the  Jews  to  him,  and  said.  How  long  dost  thou 
make  us  to  doubt  ?  If  thou  be  the  Christ,  tell  us  plainly.' 
To  have  accepted  the  man  of  Calvary  as  an  atoning  sacrifice 
for  sin,  would  have  required  a  state  of  heart  which  the  pen- 
itent thief  and  others  like  him  only  possessed.  There  are 
three  who  are  dying  on  three  crosses,  "  on  either  side  one, 
and  Jesus  in  the  midst."  He  "in  the  midst"  is  dying  to 
save  our  souls.  God  is  setting  him  forth  "  to  be  a  propi- 
tiation through  faith  in  his  blood  ;  to  declare  his  righteousness 
for  the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past,  through  the  forbear- 
ance of  God  ;  to  declare,  I  say,  at  this  time,  his  righteousness, 
that  he  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth 
in  Jesus."  They  tell  us  that  "  he  is  wounded  for  our  trans- 
gressions, he  is  bruised  for  our  iniquity;  the  chastisement 
of  our  peace  was  upon  him,  and  with  his  stripes  we  are 
healed."  "I  saw  those  stripes,"  says  one  of  the  bystanders, 
a  Pharisee ;  and  as  he  speaks,  he  wraps  his  robe  about  him 
with  a  manifest  feeling  of  discomfort  at  the  recollection,  min- 
gled with  some  loftiness  of  manner,  and  with  an  air  of  in- 
4 


38  JUSTIFICATION 

credulity  —  "I  saw  those  strijtes  ;  thej  took  off  his  robe,  and 
with  the  rods  which  the  Roman  lictors  use,  they  struck  him 
till  the  blood  came."  Turning  about  with  a  half-concealed 
expression  of  scorn,  somewhat  chastised  with  pity  for  the 
deluded  victims  of  such  a  superstition,  he  adds,  "  They  say 
that  '  by  his  stripes  we  are  healed ; '  '  propitiation,'  they  call 
his  death,  '  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.' " 

Now,  this  seemingly  absurd  proposition,  this  "  stumbling 
block,"  this  "  foolishness,"  is  our  gospel.  All  the  forms  of 
ridicule  have  been  exhausted  upon  it,  and  upon  those  who 
believe  it ;  and  yet  more  young  men  in  our  colleges  have, 
this  year,  embraced  it  than  ever  before  in  the  same  space 
of  time.  We  are  as  literal  in  our  belief  as  to  the  suf- 
ferings and  death  of  Jesus,  as  we  are  with  regard  to  the 
Passover  in  Egypt,  and  the  brazen  serpent  in  the  wilder- 
ness. Nor  do  we  consider  the  atonement  by  Christ  merely 
as  an  " at-one-ment "  —  putting  the  effect  for  the  cause;  but 
the  atonement  we  hold  to  be  "  the  offering  up  of  the  body  of 
Jesus  Christ  once  for  all."  Every  thing  that  Christ  did  —  his 
becoming  flesh,  suffering,  and  dying,  and  rising  again  —  all  are 
parts  of  a  great  whole ;  while  the  death  which  was  endured  is 
the  essential  thing,  the  rest  being  subordinate,  but  necessary 
in  connection  with  the  infinite  sacrifice  for  sin. 

We  come  to  God  feeling  that  we  deserve  all  which  is 
threatened  against  sin  ;  that  we  have  nothing  to  plead  as  a 
bar  to  punishment,  excepting  that  which  God  has  himself 
appointed,  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ.  Pleading  that  sac- 
rifice, we  are  forgiven.  This  is  justification ;  "it  is  an  act  of 
God's  free  grace,  wherein  he  pardoneth  all  our  sins,  and  ac- 
cepteth  us  as  righteous  in  his  sight,  only  for  the  righteousness 
of  Christ  imputed  to  us,  and  received  by  faith  alone."  The 
moral  character  of  Christ  is  not  imputed  to  us  ;  no  transfer 
is  made  of  his  personal  goodness,  but  his  atoning  work  is  "  im- 


AND     ITS     CONSEQUENCES.  39 

puted,"  "  reckoned  to  us  for  rigliteou?;ness."  "  To  liim  that 
worketh  not,  but  believeth  on  him  that  justifietli  the  un- 
godly, his  faith  is  counted  for  righteousness."  Forgiveness 
of  sins  is  immediately  bestowed  upon  every  one  who  seeks  for 
pardon  through  Christ.  These  two  passages  interpret  each 
other :  "  Therefore,  being  justijied  by  faith,  we  have  peace 
with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; "  and,  "  There  is 
therefore  now  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ 
Jesus,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit." 
Gratuitous  pardon  comes  to  every  penitent  sinner  through  the 
sufferings  and  death  of  Christ ;  so  that  the  simple,  heartfelt 
acceptance  of  it  has  the  effect,  by  the  appointment  of  God,  to 
clear  the  soul  from  condemnation.  All  its  sins  are  at  once 
blotted  out.  God  is  at  peace  with  us  ;  we  are  accepted  of 
him,  in  consequence  of  this  one  act  of  receiving  Christ.  A 
change  of  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit  accompanies  this  act  of 
saving  faith. 

If  this  be  so,  we  cannot  wonder  that  they  who  believe  this, 
and  experience  it,  say  with  the  apostle,  "  God  forbid  that  I 
should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  The 
Word,  "  the  same  in  substance,  equal  in  power  and  glory," 
with  the  Father,  becomes,  for  us,  a  child,  a  man  of  sorrows,  a 
sacrifice  for  sin ;  his  sufferings  and  death  are  an  atonement 
for  "  every  man  ; "  pardon  is  bestowed  at  once,  and  without 
reserve,  upon  those  who  plead  the  Saviour's  death  in  seeking 
to  be  reconciled  to  God ;  all  which  they  had  forfeited  by  sin 
is  restored  to  them ;  God  has  given  to  them  eternal  life  ;  they 
shall  never  perish ;  no  man  shall  pluck  them  out  of  his  hands. 
Hence  the  joy  which  attends  religious  conversion,  and  ob- 
taining a  hope  of  pardon  and  acceptance  with  God,  of  deliver- 
ance from  the  reigning  power  of  sin,  and  from  the  wrath  to 
come.  The  consciousness  of  loving  God  and  of  being  loved 
by  him,  and  of  having  a  spiritual  relation  to  him  established 


40  JUSTIFICATION 

forever,  with  all  the  present  and  prospective  blessings  con- 
nected with  it,  is  the  greatest  happiness  of  which  our  natures 
are  capable ;  all  things  are  counted  loss  in  comparison  with  it ; 
the  desires  of  the  soul  have  at  last  found  objects  commensurate 
with  them;  and  thus  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  that 
"  treasure  hid  in  a  field,  the  which  when  a  man  hath  found, 
he  hideth,  and  for  joy  thereof  goeth  and  selleth  all  that  he 
hath,  and  buyeth  that  field." 

It  will  be  plainly  seen,  therefore,  why,  if  all  this  be  true, 
we  make  so  much  of  that  first  act  of  believing  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  as  a  sacrifice  for  sins  —  of  being  justified.  It  is  the 
outer  door  pass-key ;  it  commands  the  whole  house.  No  one 
is  accepted  of  God  until  the  act  of  justification  has  taken  place ; 
and  this  takes  place  at  once  upon  the  exercise  of  faith  in  the 
Redeemer  as  a  sacrifice  for  sins. 

The  great  burden  of  evangelical  preaching,  therefore,  is 
"  Christ  crucified ; "  this  was  the  great  theme  of  apostolic 
preaching  —  pardon  through  faith  in  the  death  of  Christ. 
"  To  him  give  all  the  prophets  witness,  that  whosoever  be- 
Ueveth  on  him  shall  receive  the  remission  of  sins." 

AN    OBJECTION    CONSIDERED. 

The  plan  of  justifying  and  saving  us  through  the  righteous- 
ness of  another,  appears  to  some,  theoretically,  to  be  dangerous 
to  good  morals,  by  affording  encouragement  to  sin. 

This  objection  Paul  recognizes,  and  answers,  when  he 
declares  that  Christ  is  not  the  minister  of  sin,  and  when  he 
exclaims,  "  Shall  we  continue  in  sin  that  grace  may  abound  ?  " 
*'  Shall  we  sin  because  we  are  not  under  the  law,  but  under 
grace  ?  God  forbid  ! "  He  does  not  answer  the  objection 
with  a  logical  argument,  but  with  an  impassioned  exclama- 
tion. 


AND     ITS      CONSEQUENCES.  41 

He  who  is  really  pardoned  by  this  method,  cannot  turn  "  the 
grice  of  God  into  licentiousness;"  they  who  have  had  spuri- 
ous repentance  and  faith,  may  wrest  this  doctrine,  as  they  also 
do  the  scriptures,  to  their  own  destruction.  The  most  effect- 
ual way  to  secure  our  obedience  seems  to  be,  to  forgive  us 
-freely  and  at  once ;  to  make  us  see  and  feel  that  even  our 
future  imperfections  and  sins  are  provided  for  by  the  suffer- 
ings which  were  endured  on  the  tree ;  and  then  to  constrain 
us  by  the  love  of  Christ,  by  the  remembrance  of  what  it  was 
necessary  for  him  to  become,  and  to  do,  and  to  suffer,  on 
account  of  sin,  to  live  not  to  ourselves,  but  to  him  that  died  for 
us  and  rose  again.  Such  is  the  divine  method  of  securing  the 
love  and  obedience  of  fallen  men ;  its  success  is  recorded  in 
the  history  of  the  gospel  as  exemplified  in  the  lives  and  deaths 
of  a  multitude  whom  no  man  can  number. 

This  objection  to  the  way  of  salvation  by  free  grace,  is  also 
effectually  answered  by  considering  that 

A  CHANGE  OF  HEART  ACCOMPANIES  PARDON. 

The  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  heart  is,  equally 
with  the  work  of  Christ,  a  part  of  this  great  plan  and  method 
of  salvation.  There  is  a  preternatural  change  wrought  in 
every  one  who  believes  in  Christ  in  the  way  now  explained. 
Christ  says,  "No  man  can  come  to  me  except  the  Father, 
which  hath  sent  me,  draw  him.  It  is  written  in  the  Proph- 
ets, And  they  shall  be  all  taught  of  God."  It  requires  no 
such  divine  influence  to  believe  any  thing  else,  or  to  come  to 
any  one  else,  as  in  coming  to  Christ  and  to  his  way  of  saving 
us.  If  faith  in  Christ  be  wholly  of  ourselves,  if  there  be 
nothing  supernatural  connected  with  it,  no  divine  influence  is 
needed  any  more  than  in  a  change  of  political  opinion. 

If  a  phenomenon  took  place  on  learning  a  certain  tongue, 
or  in  adopting  any  theory  of  morals  or  science,  similar  to  that 
4  * 


42  JUSTIFICATION 

which  occurs  every  where  under  the  preaching  of  justification 
by  Christ,  it  woulcTbe  a  prominent  subject  in  all  our  books  of 
mental  philosophy.  We  send  Christian  missionaries  to  Green- 
land, to  India,  to  Africa,  to  the  South  Sea  Islands,  and 
straightway  the  letters  of  the  missionaries  contain  accounts  of 
those  same  religious  experiences  which  occur  under  our  own 
observation.  Leaving  out  the  names  of  places  and  persons, 
one  could  not  tell  whether  the  conversions  occurred  in  our 
land,  or  Otaheite,  or  Burmah,  or  Constantinople,  or  among  the 
Hottentots. 

Without  this  supernatural  work  in  the  soul,  the  prospect 
with  every  one  who  believes  in  Christ  would  be  deficient. 
But  when  the  Holy  Spirit  changes  the  heart,  as  he  does  in 
every  case  where  faith  in  Christ  is  exercised,  instantly  the 
current  of  the  affections  begins  to  run  in  an  opposite  direction 
from  their  former  sinful  course.  It  is  no  less  so  than  if  one 
should  lift  the  seaward  end  of  a  river's  bed,  and  cause  the 
stream  to  flow  back  in  new  channels  which  had  been  opened 
for  it,  they  having  a  declivity  which  before  prevented  the 
stream  from  flowing  into  them  ;  but  now  the  water  finds  its 
way  easily,  in  hitherto  strange  directions,  and  accomplishes 
new  and  important  uses. 

So  God  turns  the  current  of  the  soul  at  tlie  moment  when 
he  "doth  persuade  and  enable  us  to  embrace  Jesus  Christ, 
freely  offered  to  us  in  the  gospel."  But  does  the  current  al- 
ways run  smoothly  ?  Are  there  no  cross  currents,  no  adverse 
winds  ?  All  through  life  there  will  be  conflict.  This  itself, 
however,  is  a  proof  that  the  great  change  has  taken  place. 
Before,  the  sinful  feelings  met  with  no  resistance,  except  from 
conscience,  whose  power  became  more  and  more  feeble ;  but 
now,  a  new  principle  is  implanted  ;  now,  the  renew^ed  nature 
makes  resistance,  and  amidst  great  sorrows  and  trials,  and  oc- 
casionally being  brought  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin,  which 


AND     ITS     CONSEQUENCES.  43 

is  in  the  members,  nevertheless  prevails.  The  house  of  Saul 
becomes  weaker  and  weaker,  and  tlie  house  of  David  waxes 
stronger  and  stronger.  Then  the  truth  of  those  words  is  ex- 
perienced, "  He  that  is  born  of  God  sinneth  not."  As  we 
say  that,  in  a  healthy  state,  one  can  not  eat  wormwood,  and  yet 
every  one  has  power  to  do  it,  so  sin  has  become  uncongenial 
with  the  new  taste  ;  the  new  nature  has  governing  desires  which 
are  opposite  to  the  old  ;  one  is  surprised  to  find  how,  without 
effort,  he  relinquishes  old  habits,  pleasures,  friendships,  pros- 
pects, which  now  are  seen  to  be  contrary  to  the  will  of  God, 
and  to  spiritual  progress.  Prayer  now  becomes  easy  and 
natural ;  it  is  not  confined  to  certain  times  and  places,  though 
good  habits  and  system  are  carefully  cherished  ;  but  in  the 
street,  at  work,  in  company,  the  heart  readily  turns  to  God. 
Through  life,  the  Holy  Spirit  carries  on  that  work  which  be- 
gins with  believing  on  Christ  as  a  sacrifice  for  sins,  and 
with  being  consequently  justified  by  the  act  of  God's  free 
grace. 

Many  who  do  not  hear  the  way  of  salvation  set  forth  as 
evangelical  Christians  believe  it,  and  many  of  those  who  do, 
earnestly  desire  to  experience  this  change  of  heart.  Their 
efforts  after  goodness  have  been  like  climbing  a  sand  hill ;  they 
have  never  obtained  that  sense  of  acceptance  with  God  whi^Ji 
is  necessary  to  a  solid  peace. 

The  reason  of  their  ill  success  is,  that  they  have  not  direct- 
ed their  efforts  towards  that  one  essential  thing  which  stands 
as  the  door  to  all  religious  experience,  and  to  which  Christ 
refers  when  he  says,  "  If  any  man  will  enter  in,  he  shall  be 
saved,  and  shall  go  in  and  out,  and  find  pasture."  He  is  him- 
self "  the  door  ; "  and  believing  on  him  as  a  sacrifice  for  sins, 
accepting  pardon  through  his  blood,  is  "  entering  in."  Now, 
her«  is  a  great  wonder  among  the  wonders  of  infinite  grace, 


44  JUSTIFICATION 

that  upon  receiving  one  unspeakable  gift,  God  gives  us  another  ; 
for,  if  Ave  come  to  him  renouncing  our  own  merit,  pleading  no 
works  for  justification,  but  just  as  we  are,  accepting  pardon 
through  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ,  there  is  bestowed 
upon  us,  at  one  and  the  same  time,  with  the  pardon  of  all  our 
sins,  the  renewal  of  our  natures  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  God  not  only  provides  for  us  a  substitute  in  the  per- 
son of  the  incarnate  Word,  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of  di- 
vine justice,  and  invites,  and,  to  use  his  own  words,  "  be- 
seeches"  us  ("  as  though  God  did  beseech  you")  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  God,  but  upon  our  acceptance  of  Christ,  (itself  his 
own  gracious  working  in  us  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good 
pleasure,)  he  confers  that  great  grace,  regeneration,  a  change 
which  the  Bible  describes  by  such  terms  as  "  new  creature," 
"  raised  from  the  dead,"  "  life,"  "  born  of  God."  Hence  it  is 
said  of  Christ,  "  To  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he 
power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  as  many  as  believe 
on  his  name ;  which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will 
of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God." 

ANOTHER    OBJECTION  :    "  IT    IS    TOO    EASY." 

The  thought  of  being  pardoned  freely  and  at  once,  without 
the  allowance  of  any  thing  on  our  part  which  can  in  any  way 
constitute  a  claim,  or  be  in  any  sense  an  equivalent,  con- 
founds all  our  previous  ideas  of  the  way  to  be  saved.  We 
are  not  prepared  to  meet  with  such  gratuitous,  such  abound- 
ing, love  and  mercy.  Could  we  but  invest  repentance,  or 
faith,  or  submission  to  God,  with  something  meritorious  —  could 
we  suffer,  or  make  sacrifices,  or  perform  labors,  and  feel  that  it 
was  in  view  of  these  things  that  we  are  forgiven,  —  this  would 
satisfy  us  ;  but  to  receive  pardon  as  a  free  gift  is  a  perfect 
acknowledgment  of  utter  helplessness  and  ill  desert ;  and  it  is 
not  till  we  have  tried  every  other  method  of  being  reconciled 


AND     ITS     CONSEQUENCES.  45 

to  God,  in  vain,  that  we  accede  to  his  method  of  saving  men. 
Then  the  wisdom  and  love  of  God  in  redemption  astonish  us  ; 
we  see  how  perfectly  God  has  maintauied  the  honor  of  his 
law  by  making  such  an  atonement  for  sin  before  he  would 
forgive  the  sinner;  we  see  how  safe  the  sinner  is  who  is  justi- 
fied "  by  the  righteousness  of  God  through  faith,"  instead  of 
by  his  own  wretched  attempts  at  obedience ;  the  infinite  mag- 
nanimity (for  want  of  a  better  word)  which  there  is  in  blotting 
out  our  transgressions  ;  above  all,  the  stupendous  sacrifice  and 
sufferings  of  the  Son  of  God  in  our  behalf,  awaken  gratitude 
and  love  which  are  not  equalled  by  any  emotions  of  which  the 
heart  is  capable.  All  objection  to  the  plan  of  salvation  as 
being  too"  easy,  is  lost  in  the  thought  of  the  glory  and  praise 
which  redound  to  the  character  of  God  by  such  a  method  of 
saving  men  ;  we  sink  into  nothingness  in  comparison  with  it ; 
we  hear  him  say,  "I,  even  I,  am  he  that  blotteth  out  thy 
transgressions  for  my  name's  sake,  and  will  not  remember  thy 
sins."  "VVe  see  that  we  cannot  vie  with  the  love  of  God  any 
more  than  we  can  contend  with  his  power ;  that  we  must  be 
willing  to  be  loved,  and  to  be  saved  by  infinite  mercy. 

AN    IMPORTANT    QUESTION  :    "  IF    I    BELIEVE,    SHALL    I 
PERSEVERE  ?  " 

When  this  way  of  being  justified  and  accepted  of  God  has 
been  plainly  made  known,  it  is  a  very  common  objection  — 
indeed,  it  is  almost  universal  —  "If  I  accept  this  method  of 
pardon,  I  still  have  no  security  that  I  shall  persevere."  In- 
deed, the  connection  between  believing  on  Christ  and  contin- 
uing in  the  Christian  life,  is  not  apparent,  till  we  find  that 
there  is  an  absolute  certainty  of  being  saved,  if  we  have  been 
justified  through  faith  in  Christ.  That  one  step  insures  every 
other,  and  leads  to  final  salvation.  One  passage  of  Scripture 
asserts  this  in  the  plainest  terms  —  "  And  whom  he  justified. 


46  JUSTIFICATION 

them  he  also  glorified;"  and  there  are  other  passages 
equally  direct.  There  is  nothing  more  effectual  to  excite 
hope  and  confidence  in  the  mind  of  a  sincere  inquirer  who 
seems  just  ready  to  believe  in  Christ,  than  to  show  him  that 
his  whole  future  Christian  life  is  as  really  included  in  the 
covenant  promises  of  God,  as  his  justification  is  upon  his  first 
act  of  saving  faith.  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
thou  shalt  be  saved."  "  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  shall 
not  come  into  condemnation,  but  is  passed  from  death  unto 
hfe." 

"The  love  divine 

Which  made  us  thine, 
Shall  keep  us  thine,  forever." 

All  this  will  be  done  in  the  same  connection  with  our  own 

■* 
voluntary  efforts,  as  in  the  case  of  our  justification,  in  which 

we  were  as  really  active  as  though  all  depended  upon  our- 
selves. So  it  will  be  with  our  perseverance  in  the  Christian 
life ;  and  our  mistakes,  and  follies,  and  backslidings,  and 
afflictions,  and  repentances,  all  the  mercies  of  God  —  in  short, 
the  whole  discipline  of  life  —  will  be  employed  to  accomplish 
that  which  will  be,  nevertheless,  as  certain  as  though  we  were 
at  once  transferred,  upon  being  justified,  to  a  state  of  complete 
sanctification.  Words  of  encouragement,  therefore,  need  to 
be  addressed  to  those  who  dread  the  thought  of  failure  after 
having  begun  the  Christian  hfe.  It  is  this  dread  which  holds 
them  back,  in  multitudes  of  cases,  from  complying  with  the 
conditions  of  salvation,  or,  having  done  it,  from  avowing  their 
faith  in  Christ  by  a  Christian  profession. 

They  readily  acknowledge  that  the  first  step  towards 
acceptance  with  God,  the  work  of  justification,  is  wholly  of 
grace.  They  cannot  atone  for  their  sins  ;  they  furnish  no 
righteousness  as  the  ground  of  their  acceptance  with  God. 
Here  they  rely  implicitly  on  sovereign  love  and  power ;  and, 


AND     ITS     CONSEQUENCES.  47 

in  doing  so,  they  find  themselves  the  subjects  of  a  plan  of 
salvation  in  which  all  the  attributes  of  the  Godhead  meet  and 
are  illustrated.  This  they  joyfully  acknowledge  ;  they  are 
willing  to  trnst  implicitly  to  the  power  and  goodness  of  God 
in  the  great  concern  of  being  justified. 

Now,  as  the  work  of  justification  is  all  of  God,  the  work  of 
sanctification  is  also  his.  If  he  delivers  from  condemnation, 
he  will  keep  us  from  it ;  if  he  sends  a  Redeemer,  he  will  send 
the  Holy  Spirit ;  whom  he  pardons  he  will  save.  We  have 
no  anxiety  with  respect  to  the  competency  of  Christ  and  his 
atoning  work  ;  we  are  sure  that  he  is  able  to  save  them  to  the 
uttermost  who  come  unto  God  by  him  ;  and  now,  the  Holy 
S[)irit  is  equally  competent  to  accomplish  his  part  of  the 
work.  As  we  do  not  undertake  to  atone  for  our  sins,  and 
cannot  provide  a  way  for  our  justification,  but  leave  it  to 
Christ,  so  we  must  leave  our  sanctification  to  the  Holy  Spirit. 
But  in  both  cases  we  employ  our  own  powers  and  faculties. 
We  act  when  God  justifies  us, '  striving  according  to  his  work- 
ing which  worketh  in  us  mightily ; '  for  we  are  never  more 
conscious  of  perfect  freedom  than  when  we  are  under  the 
most  powerful  divine  influences.  In  like  manner,  when  the 
Holy  Spirit  sanctifies  us,  we  are  made  "  willing  in  the  day  of 
his  power." 

Thus  we  have  a  complete  answer  to  the  common  objection, 
"  I  fear  that,  if  I  exercise  faith  in  Christ,  and  make  a  public 
avowal  of  it,  I  may  not  persevere.  Failure  would  be  disas- 
trous to  my  peace  ;  I  should  be  a  reproach  to  the  Christian 
name." 

Seeing  that  all  are  liable  to  failure  in  the  Christian  life, 
what  if  all  should  postpone  their  public  profession  of  religion 
till  they  are  just  ready  to  enter  heaven  ?  Then  there  would 
be  no  danger,  indeed,  of  bringing  a  reproach  on  religion  ;  but 
where  would  religion  itself  be,  seeing  that  religion  exists  only 


48  JUSTIFICATION 

in  the  lives  of  its  professors  ?  —  for  there  is  no  religion  in  the 
world  any  further  than  there  are  those  who  follow  Christ. 
We  are  to  remember,  therefore,  —  and  we  should  be  encour- 
aged by  the  truth  to  enter  upon  a  Christian  life,  —  that  to 
sanctify  us  is  as  much  a  part  of  the  divine  plan  in  our  re- 
demption, as  to  justify  us.  "  For  whom  he  did  predestinate, 
them  he  also  called ;  and  whom  he  called,  them  he  also 
justified ;  and  whom  he  justified,  them  he  also  glorified." 
Justification  takes  place  at  once ;  but,  while  sanctification 
extends  to  the  last  moment  of  life,  it  is  as  sure  as  pardon  and 
justification. 

All  that  one  need  concern  himself  to  do,  therefore,  is  to 
obtain  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  By 
coming  as  intelligently  as  he  ever  did  any  act,  and  acknowledg- 
ing his  sinfulness  and  just  condemnation,  and  complying  with 
the  offered  terms  of  pardon,  —  that  is,  a  heartfelt  acceptance  of 
Jesus  Christ  as  a  sacrifice  for  sins,  and  asking  to  have  it  im- 
puted to  him  for  his  justification,  —  he  will  at  once  have  peace 
with  God  ;  there  will  be  for  him  "  no  condemnation."  This 
is  the  simple,  plain  method  which  God  has  appointed,  by  which 
men  are  to  be  saved ;  to  this  they  always  come  after  long  and 
wearisome  endeavors  to  obtain  peace  by  other  means ;  they 
then  perceive  that  their  error  has  been  in  trying  to  do  too 
many  things,  and  all  of  them  entirely  aside  from  the  simple, 
essential  act  of  accepting  free  forgiveness  through  the 
infinite  merits  of  the  Redeemer,  without  works  or  merit  on 
their  part.  These  remarks  apply  especially  to  those  who,  for 
a  long  time,  profess  that  they  wish  to  be  Christians,  and  do  not 
see  why  they  have  never  experienced  religion.  The  reason 
is,  that  there  is  only  one  way  of  being  accepted  of  God,  and 
that  is,  by  relying  •  wholly  on  Christ,  without  any  personal 
merit.  We  must  neither  leave  one  sin  behind  us,  nor  bring  any 
good  work  with  us,  when  we  come  to  Christ,  but  with  all  our 


AND     ITS     CONSEQUENCES.  49 

sins,  and  with  all  our  destitution  of  personal  goodness,  we 
must  appear  before  him  to  be  forgiven,  wholly  through  the 
sufferings  and  death  which  he,  of  his  infinite  mercy,  endured 
on  our  account. 

One  definite  thing  should  therefore  engage  the  attention  and 
efforts  of  every  one  who  wishes  to  be  a  Christian  ;  and  that  is, 
To  be  pardoned.  He  who  fixes  his  mind  solely  on  this,  and 
strives  to  obtain  it,  will  seek  in  the  right  direction ;  for  he  will 
thereby  be  led  to  regard  himself  as  a  sinner,  and  not  merely 
as  one  who  is  unhappy  and  in  peril;  the  nature  and  ill  desert 
of  sin  will  present  themselves  to  his  mind ;  he  will  be  led  to 
see  his  utter  inability  to  make  satisfaction  for  his  want  of  con- 
formity to  the  law  of  God,  and  for  his  transgressions ;  he  will 
see  and  feel  the  need  of  something  beyond  himself  to  make 
satisfaction  to  the  law  of  God,  whose  penalty  he  will  find  he 
has  incurred.  Ceasing  from  all  vague  efforts  to  experience 
something,  he  knows  not  what,  which  he  hopes  will  open  some 
unknown  door  of  hope  before  him,  he  will  come  at  once  to  the 
simple  conclusion  that  he  is  helpless,  that  he  is  condemned, 
that  he  must  perish  unless  God  has  mercy  upon  him ;  and  then 
he  will  see  that  "  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto 
himself,  not  imputing  their  trespasses  unto  them." 

We  should  not  have  devised  such  a  way  of  salvation.  It  is 
an  explicit  revelation  from  heaven,  "  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a 
mystery,  even  the  hidden  wisdom  which  God  ordained  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world  for  our  glory ;  which  none  of  the 
princes  of  this  world  knew ;  for  had  they  known  it,  they  would 
not  have  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory."  It  is  made  known  to 
every  humble  inquirer;  it  is  hidden  from  the  wise  and 
prudent ;  they  who  approach  it  with  self-conceit,  or  with  de- 
bate, or  to  satisfy  any  preconceived  wishes,  will  never  find  it. 
When  Peter  made  his  confession  of  Christ  on  a  certain  occa- 
sion, the  Saviour  said  to  him,  "  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar- 
5 


60  JUSTIFICATION 

jona,  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but 
my  Father  M'hich  is  in  heaven."  Of  the  same  import  are 
those  words  —  "  No  man  can  say  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  but 
by  the  Holy  Ghost.'*  "  All  that  the  Father  hath  given  me 
shall  come  to  me ;  and  him  that  cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  no 
wise  cast  out." 

One  word,  therefore,  expresses  our  need,  our  duty,  oiar 
privilege  ;  and  that  is,  Pardon.  Do  I  need  it  ?  and  why  ? 
How  has  it  been  procured  for  me  ?  How  may  I  obtain  it  ? 
"What  consequences  flow  from  it  ?  What  will  follow  if  I  am 
not  pardoned  ?  We  must  give  up  our  vague  thoughts  and 
endeavors  with  regard  to  religion,  and  fix  our  thoughts  wholly 
on  this :  How  may  I  obtain  forgiveness  of  sin  ?  This  ques- 
tion has  now  been  considered  and  answered.  Whoever, 
therefore,  feels  that  he  has  sinned,  and  has  relentings  of  heart, 
and  wishes  to  be  at  peace  with  God,  has  only  to  come,  as 
Israel  in  the  desert  did  to  the  brazen  serpent,  and  look  to  the 
crucified  Saviour,  and  by  as  simple  an  act  of  faith  as  those 
Avounded  men  exercised  in  that  gratuitous  provision  for  their 
cure,  he  must  put  his  trust  in  that  Just  One,  suffering,  dying, 
rising,  interceding  for  him.  In  doing  so,  he  will  be  saved. 
All  his  sins  will  be  forgiven  at  once.  The  Holy  Spirit  will 
renew  his  heart.  He  will  be  "  received  into  the  number  and 
have  a  right  to  all  the  privileges  of  the  sons  of  God."  His 
preparation  for  heaven  will  proceed  from  step  to  step,  and  he 
will  be  '  kept  by  the  power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salvation.* 
All  this,  if  we  are  willing  to  humble  ourselves,  and  receive 
as  a  free  gift  to  lost  and  perishing  sinners,  we  may  now 
receive  without  money  and  without  price.  We  seek  in  vain 
for  peace  and  safety  until  we  thus  submit  to  the  way  of  justifi- 
cation through  faith  in  Christ.  We  go  about  with  unforgiven 
sin  upon  ufj  with  no  covenant  to  keep  us  one  moment  out  of 


AND     ITS     CONSEQUENCES.  51 

perdition,  and  adding  to  all  our  sins  the  guilt  of  rejectino-  a 
crucified  Saviour.     Therefore,  ''  whosoever  will  let  him 

TAKE  THE  WATER  OF  LIFE  FREELY."  "  BeHOLD  I  HAVE 
PREPARED  MY  DINNER  ;  MY  OXEN  AND  MY  FATLINGS  ARE 
KILLED,  AND  ALL  THINGS  ARE  READY;  COME  UNTO  THE 
MARRIAal." 


III. 
OUR   BIBLE 


There  must  be  such  a  book  as  the  Bible  is  held  tc  be 
by  the  great  majority  of  those  who   possess  it  —  an  inspired,  * 
all-sufficient  revelation  from  God. 

The  same  reasoning  holds  good  here  which  Christopher  Co- 
lumbus used  with  regard  to  the  globe.  He  insisted  that  there 
must  be  a  continent  in  the  west ;  that  it  was  necessary,  in 
order  to  maintain  the  equilibrium  of  the  planet.  He  argued, 
moreover,  that  there  was,  of  necessity,  a  nearer  way  to  Asia 
than  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  In  faith,  which  could  not 
be  shaken  because  it  was  founded  in  the  nature  of  things,  he 
persevered  in  his  search,  till  the  sea  weeds  of  the  Bahama 
Islands  floated  by,  and  the  perfumes  of  San  Salvador  came  on 
the  night  airs  to  his  ship. 

Believing  in  the  existence  of  a  wise  and  benevolent  God, 
we  may,  with  more  confidence  than  that  which  made  Colum- 
bus look  for  a  new  world,  declare  that  God  has  always  given, 
and  will  always  grant,  to  man,  a  perfect  directory  concerning 
the  divine  character  and  will,  one  about  which  an  honest  mind 
can  make  no  mistake  in  its  endeavors  to  learn  its  duty.  It 
may  be  by  direct  communications  from  God  himself  to  man  ; 
or  by  messengers,  of  whose  authority  to  speak  for  God  there 
?an  be  no  room  for  doubt;  or  in  a  -a-itten  form.  It  is  irapos- 
5  *  (53) 


54  OUR     BIBLE. 

sible  that  there  should  not  be  such  revelations.  Thus,  know- 
ing that  God  will  make  men  to  dwell  on  the  earth,  we  might 
insist  beforehand,  with  absolute  certainty,  that  he  will  furnish 
them  with  means  of  communicating  their  ideas  one  with  an- 
other. It  would  not  be  benevolent,  it  is  said,  to  suffer  human 
beings,  with  their  instincts  and  wants,  to  be,  like  so  many 
islands,  cut  off,  one  from  another,  and  each  from  all,  by  being 
deprived  of  signs  and  symbols  to  express  their  thoughts. 
There  is  no  more  necessity,  in  the  nature  of  things,  for  lan- 
guage, than  there  is  that  intelligent  and  accountable  beings 
should  be  informed,  by  some  infallible  and  all-sufficient  meth- 
ods, what  they  are  to  believe  concerning  God,  and  what  duties 
«God  requires  of  them.  He  who  made  the  human  hand,  and 
has  adapted  the  senses  to  the  external  world  with  such  benev- 
olent regard  to  the  happiness  and  welfare  of  man ;  the  God 
who  has  made  medicinal  herbs  to  grow  in  every  clime  suited  to 
the  diseases  incident  to  that  region ;   who  fixed  in  heaven 

"the  stcdfast  starre 
That  was  in  ocean  waves  yet  never  wet, 
But  firme  is  fixt,  and  sendeth  light  from  farre, 
To  all  that  in  the  wide  deepe  wandring  arre ;  " 

and  who,  in  process  of  time,  gave  man  the  compass,  and  then 
the  power  of  steam,  and  then  the  electric  telegraph,  has  not 
failed,  —  it  would  be  absurd,  it  requires  too  much  credulity,  to 
think  that  he  has  failed  to  bestow  on  man  that  which  he 
needs  above  all  things,  and  without  which  every  thing  else  is 
comparatively  without  value  —  an  all-sufficient  revelation 
concerning  his  God,  which,  for  its  great  purpose,  is  as  reliable, 
and,  in  effect,  as  complete,  as  though  God  held  personal  inter- 
course with  every  man,  face  to  face. 

God  at  first  communicated  with  men  in  person  and  by  word 
of  mouth ;  then  by  angels,  and  by  fellow-men ;  — he,  neverthe- 
less, himself  interposing  continually  with  special  disclosures 


OURBIBLE.  55 

of  his  will,  to  leave  men  in  no  doubt  as  to  that  will  and  their 
duty.  For  reasons  known  only  to  himself,  he  has  seen  fit  to 
withhold  these  immediate,  personal  communications  with  men. 
Has  our  need  of  a  divine  revelation  ceased  ?  The  same  ne- 
cessity exists,  and  will  continue  to  exist,  that  man  should  have 
an  unerring  guide  as  to  truth  and  duty.  If  we  have  no  such 
guide,  the  world,  instead  of  advancing,  has  retrograded ;  and 
where  is  that  benevolent  God  who,  in  the  arts  and  sciences,, 
by  sea  and  land,  in  gold  mines,  in  the  coal,  in  surgery,  and 
even  in  war,  has  progressively  revealed  his  kind  regard  for 
the  convenience  of  man,  and  his  desire  to  alleviate  his  woes  ? 
Has  he  taken  from  us  the  most  indispensable  and  precious  of 
all  his  gifts  —  an  authentic,  all-sufiicient  source  of  knowledge 
respecting  himself?  In  every  thing  else,  we  have  made  great 
advances  upon  those  who  have  gone  before  us ;  the  law  of 
progression  is  every  where  seen  in  human  affairs  ;  but  now, 
if  we  have  no  word  of  God,  on  which  we  can  rely  with  as 
much  certainty  as  Adam  could  upon  that  voice  of  the  Lord 
which  he  heard  walking  in  the  garden  in  the  cool  of  the  day  ; 
if  Pharaoh,  with  the  messengers  of  the  Almighty  before  him, 
enjoyed  greater  privileges  than  we,  sinners  of  the  nineteenth 
century ;  if  Israel  in  the  desert  had  its  cloud  by  day  and  pil- 
lar of  fire  by  night,  its  door  of  the  tabernacle  covered  with 
the  sign  of  the  Almighty's  presence,  its  mercy  seat,  its  audible 
voice,  saying,  "  I  am  the  Lord  ; "  and  if  all  the  people  of  God, 
even  the  children  —  the  Samuels,  the  Josiahs  —  had  clear,  au- 
thentic disclosures  of  the  divine  will,  and  we  enjoy  nothing  of 
the  kind,  but  are  left  each  to  guess  his  way  to  heaven  from 
certain  writings  which  derive  their  authority  only  from  tKair 
venerableness,  but  whose  authority,  even,  is  subjected  to  the 
varying  opinions  of  men,  —  we  may  say  with  confidence  that 
it  is  the  greatest  mystery  in  the  whole  providence  of  God.  We 
hear  it  said  that  the  Bible  is  the  most  wonderful  of  books.     A 


56  OURBIBLE. 

greater  wonder,  however,  would  be  found  in  this,  that  there 
should  be  no  Bible,  no  book  claiming  to  be  the  word  of  God, 
possessing  all  the  authority,  the  completeness,  and  sufficiency 
of  a  perfect  revelation.  The  Bible  is  a  wonderful  book  if  it 
be  true ;  it  is,  for  every  reason,  more  wonderful  if  it  be  not 
true.  For  then  the  whole  analogy  of  God's  providential  deal- 
ings with  men,  by  which  he  has  in  almost  every  thing  ad- 
vanced the  race,  and  in  nothing  has  deprived  it  of  real  bless- 
ings and  privileges  previously  enjoyed,  would  be  contradicted 
in  the  very  thing  in  which  we  should  most  expect  to  behold 
the  proof  and  illustration  of  his  beneficence.  We  are,  there- 
fore, prepared  to  claim  for  the  Bible,  not  only  that.it  must  be, 
and  is,  an  inspired,  all-sufficient  revelation  from  God,  but  also 
that,  as  such,  it  is  in  no  wise  inferior  to  any  form  of  revelation 
which  God  has  ever  made  to  men. 

ONE    BOOK    FOR    ALL    FUTURE    TIME. 

One  book  for  all  times  and  all  countries,  it  is  said,  is  im- 
practicable ;  and  we  cannot  expect  that  all  nations  will  receive 
it  as  the  one  only  authorized  and  an  all-sufficient  directory. 

Yet  we  know  that  one  book,  on  a  single  subject,  can  be 
made  to  answer  an  individual,  separate  purpose  for  all  future 
time  ;  instances  of  this  occur  to  every  intelligent  reader ;  and 
therefore  we  cannot  see  why  one  book  could  not  be  made  by 
infinite  Wisdom  to  answer  every  purpose  relating  to  faith.  Its 
object,  if  such  a  book  is  made,  will  be  to  teach  man  the  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  his  duty.  There  is  no  reason  why  a  book, 
composed,  as  to  its  different  parts,  through  a  very  long  period, 
may  not  sufficiently  illustrate  every  subject  relating  to  God 
and  his  will,  so  as  to  be  an  all-sufficient  guide  in  matters  of 
faith. 

To  make  a  volume  for  all  ages,  for  every  language,  suited 


OURBIBLE.  -57 

to  all  the  conditions  of  men,  must  require  infinite  wisdom,  no 
less  than  any  work  of  the  divine  mind.  Had  men  or  angels 
been  deputed  to  make  such  a  volume  for  the  whole  human 
race,  not  to  be  superseded  as  a  whole,  and  as  a  whole  never 
to  be  antiquated,  —  ever  fresh,  always  profitable,  capable  of 
interesting  the  highest  and  the  lowest  understanding,  and  men 
under  every  sky,  and  in  every  condition  of  human  life,  —  their 
wisdom  would  have  been  put  to  the  severest  trial  in  deter- 
mining what  to  insert,  and  more  especially  what  to  omit,  in 
what  ways  to  secure  variety,  what  style  to  adopt ;  in  short, 
every  thing  which  enters  into  the  construction  of  a  book  would, 
under  the  circumstances,  have  presented  formidable  difficulties. 
It  seems  as  though,  after  long  consultation  and  experimenting, 
they  would  have  reported  unfavorably  with  regard  to  the 
possibility  of  making  such  a  volume,  and  would  have  asked 
to  be  discharged  from  the  duty;  and,  if  the  book  must  be 
made,  they  would  have  represented  that  nothing  could  be 
more  appropriately  the  work  of  infinite  Wisdom  than  to  make 
the  Bible.  Accordingly,  we  find  that  Inspiration  is  repre- 
sented to  be  as  specifically  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the 
Cross  is  identified  with  Christ. 

If  men  early  forsook  the  worshij)  of  God,  and  entailed  idol- 
atry upon  their  descendants,  those  descendants  were  not  left 
without  admonitions  respecting  Jehovah,  by  the  fame  of 
Israel's  deliverances,  and  by  the  knowledge  of  that  wonderful 
journey  through  the  desert.  The  "  years  of  release,"  too,  in 
after  time,  must  have  sent  many  witnesses  of  the  true  religion 
far  and  wide. 

LOCAL    AND    TEMPORARY   FEATURES    OF    THE   BIBLE. 

It  is  made  by  some  an  objection  to  the  Bible  that  much  of 
it  is  local  and  temporary,  and  was  not  originally  addressed  to 
the  wliol  >  world.     A  collection  of  Hebrew  histories,  narratives 


58  OURBIBLE. 

of  personal  adventure,  lyrics,  maxims,  messages  to  particular 
kings  and  states,  is  made ;  and  this  is  held  to  be,  in  part,  a 
revelation  from  God  addressed  to  the  entire  human  race  for 
all  succeeding  time,  as  the  expression  of  his  will  and  the  rule 
of  their  duty.  It  is  asked  whether  the  publications  of  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society  might  not  as  properly  be  set 
forth  as  the  rule  of  political  and  civil  life  in  the  United  States 
for  all  coming  time. 

If  those  publications,  and  they  alone,  could  be  proved  to  be 
of  divine  origin,  men  would  feel  that  the  principles  contained  in 
them  could,  possibly,  be  of  universal  application.  But,  if  there 
were  a  paper  among  them  containing  plans  and  specifications 
for  a  state  house,  would  it  follow  that  all  the  state  houses  were 
forever  to  be  built  after  that  model  ?  No  ;  and  the  directions 
with  respect  to  the  tabernacle  and  the  temple  are  not  intended 
as  directions  for  the  building  of  places  of  worship.  How, 
then,  it  is  said,  can  we  call  the  minute  details  of  the  tabernacle 
a  revelation  to  the  whole  earth  ?  It  is  said.  Let  us  discrimi- 
nate. There  is  a  word  of  God,  here  and  there,  in  the  Bible  ; 
but  do  not  require  us  to  believe  that  the  directions  to  Bezaleel 
or  Solomon  respecting  the  snuffers,  and  the  censers,  and  the 
brazen  sea,  are  a  revelation  to  people  in  North  America,  three 
thousand,  nay,  perhaps  ten  thousand,  years  afterwards ;  or  that 
Paul's  message  about  his  cloak  and  the  parchments  are  an 
inspired  revelation  to  the  christianized  Sandwich  Islanders. 

According  to  the  benevolent  and  condescending  manner  in 
which  God  has  been  pleased  to  educate  the  race,  there  are 
some  divine  communications  to  them,  now  on  record,  whose 
chief  purpose  was  local  and  temporary ;  and  at  the  same  time 
they  are  still,  and  ever  will  be,  of  such  use  to  mankind  that 
they  cannot  be  spared  from  the  sacred  canon.  All  that  relates 
to  the  ceremonial  law  is  of  this  nature.  The  minute  directions 
about  the  altars  and  their  victims  are  of  no  specific  use  to  those 


OUEBIBLE.  59 

who  have  ceased  to  offer  sacrifices ;  yet,  if  Christ  be  the  Lamb 
of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world,  every  thing 
rehiting  to  the  preparation  of  the  world  for  his  coming  and  his 
sacrifice  is  important  and  interesting;  it  cannot  be  taken  away 
without  impairing  the  historical  evidence  which  belongs  to  the 
great  sacrifice  for  sin.  He  that  would  separate  Leviticus,  for 
example,  from  the  New  Testament,  might  be  expected,  in 
presenting  us  with  a  water  lily,  to  cut  off  the  stem  close  to  the 
calyx.  Every  speech,  every  letter,  every  tradition,  relating 
to  our  revolutionary  war  and  national  independence,  is  now 
extremely  interesting,  whether  it  gives  evidence  of  strong- 
sighted  vision  respecting  the  future,  or  appears  only  as  a  faint 
gleam  in  the  mind  of  some  yearning  patriot.  We  do  not 
despise  these  things ;  they  were  the  beginnings  of  our  national 
scriptures  ;  and  by  reading  them  we  more  fully  understand 
and  appreciate  our  whole  political  history.  Who  objects  to 
them  as  a  part  of  the  nation's  biography  ? 

Thus  the  men  who  worshipped  at  the  ancient  altar  had  "  re- 
ceived not  the  promise,  God  having  provided  some  better  thing 
for  us,  that  they  without  us  should  not  be  made  perfect."  Our 
superstructure  is  now  firm  and  strong,  because  of  that  under- 
pinning which  it  received  in  the  days  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Some  who  criticise  the  Books  of  the  Chronicles,  and  the  Book 
of  Esther,  and  also  particular  portions  of  other  Old  Testa- 
ment books,  as  wholly  local,  and  noAv,  as  they  tell  us,  unedi- 
fying,  and  incapable  of  being,  in  any  sense  to  us,  a  revelation, 
forget  that  these  things  were,  to  resume  the  figure,  really  the 
underpinning  by  which  our  Christian  faith  is  supported,  though 
it  requires  some  discernment  of  spiritual  architecture  to  per- 
ceive it.  Take,  for  instance,  a  passage  which  will  serve  several 
purposes  of  illustration  at  once.  The  revolting  story  of  Judah's 
incest  breaks  in  abruptly  upon  the  narrative  in  Genesis.  Its 
seeming  intrusiveness  and  uselessness,  but,  above  all,  its  offen- 


60  OURBIBLE. 

sive  character,  make  it  a  stumbling  block  to  many  an  honest 
and  conscientious  reader.  But,  when  we  come  to  the  gene- 
alogy in  the  first  chapter  of  Matthew,  we  find  that  the  fruit 
of  this  incest  is  a  link  in  a  chain  on  which  the  credibility  of 
the  Messiah's  lineage  depends.  True  to  history,  the  direful 
origin  of  one  ancestor  of  the  Messiah  is  plainly  given  ;  all 
questions  of  descent,  which,  in  royal  or  in  noble  houses,  or 
among  heirs  at  law,  have  been  the  occasion  of  trouble  without 
measure,  are  settled,  in  this  case,  beyond  dispute,  by  the 
intrepid  honesty  of  the  narrative.  The  story  of  the  Levite 
and  his  concubine  is  another  instance  of  the  same  kind  with 
the  foregoing.  Why  introduce  such  a  sickening  tale  into  the 
sacred  word  ?  For  one  most  important  reason,  if  for  no  other. 
The  event  there  related  was  the  occasion  of  the  most  fearful 
civil  war  which  ever  happened  to  Israel.  The  tribe  of  Ben- 
jamin was  greatly  depopulated  by  it.  The  history  of  the 
Hebrew  nation  demanded  that  all  the  incidents  belonging  to 
such  an  eventful  page  of  it  should  be  faithfully  recorded. 
And  is  there  no  moral  for  every  nation  in  that  sad  passage  of 
Israel's  history?  Every  people  which  is  divided  on  any  moral 
questions  relating  to  their  internal  affairs,  is  instructed  by  the 
spirit  and  the  manner  of  the  proceedings  which,  in  this  case, 
resulted  in  the  slaughter  of  more  than  ninety  thousand  breth- 
ren by  the  hands  of  brethren. 

The  ^seemingly  useless,  and,  to  us,  the  unedifying,  lists  of 
names  in  several  places  of  the  Old  Testament  had  great 
importance  in  determining  claims  to  estates,  settling  boun- 
daries, and  establishing  the  rights  of  personal  property.  All 
these  things  were  necessary  to  bring  forward  the  purposes  of 
God  relating  to  the  Jewish  people,  and  thus  to  prepare  the 
way  for  the  Messiah's  kingdom.  That  is  not  a  comprehensive 
view  of  things  which  now  saunters  among  the  older  parts  of 
the  divine  economy,  and  demands  that  one  thiijg  and  another 


OURBIBLE.  61 

be  hewn  down  because  it  does  not  obviously,  and  in  a  striking 
way,  contribute  to  a  direct  modern  use.  It  requires  consid- 
eration, good  sense,  an  appreciative  eye  and  heart,  to  know 
whether  a  thing  is  or  is  not  of  use ;  and  the  Goths  and  Van- 
dals who  failed  here,  have  given  their  names  and  reputation 
to  others.  Since  their  day,  indeed,  none  are  more  liable  to 
just  reflections  upon  them  in  the  same  line,  than  some  who, 
with  great  pride  of  scholarship,  have  proved  themselves  inca- 
pable of  appreciating  the  historical  uses  of  the  Old  Testament, 
in  some  of  its  less  practical  parts. 

The  Book  of  Esther  is  much  spoken  against  as  professedly 
a  part  of  revelation,  because  it  is  wholly  confined  to  Jewish 
affairs,  and  relates  the  "  incredible  "  story  of  a  nation  doomed 
to  massacre  with  notice  served  upon  them,  eleven  months  be- 
forehand ;  of  seventy  thousand  Persians  being  killed  by  this 
same  people,  who  escape  the  intended  massacre ;  and,  more- 
over, the  book  does  not  contain  the  name  of  God,  nor  make 
recognition  of  his  providence. 

But  might  we  not  almost  as  well  complain  that  the  Build- 
er's name  is  not  set  in  stars  on  the  firmament  of  heaven,  as 
that  the  providence  of  God  is  not  emblazoned  in  words  upon 
a  history  which,  from  beginning  to  end,  teaches,  most  impres- 
sively, the  doctrine  of  providence  ?  In  nothing  is  it  seen  more 
conspicuously  than  in  the  notice,  eleven  months  beforehand, 
which  was  given  to  the  devoted  nation,  who  were,  at  the  ex- 
piration of  that  time,  to  be  cut  off.  Haraan  was  led  to 
consult  his  heathen  god  as  to  the  day  when  the  massacre 
which  he  had  contrived  should  be  perpetrated.  "  In  the  first 
month  they  cast  Pur,  that  is,  the  lot,  before  Haman  from  day 
to  day,  and  from  month  to  month,  to  the  twelfth  month,"  i  — 
not  that  they  spent  so  much  time  in  casting  it,  but  they 
tried  each  day   of  the  year,  by  lot,  to  determine  when  the 

'  Esther  iii.  7- 


62  OURBIBLE. 

massacre  should  take  place.  "  The  lot  is  cast  into  the 
lap  but  the  whole  disposing  thereof  is  of  the  Lord."  He 
makes  the  lot  wander  to  the  eleventh  month.  Time  is  thus 
given  the  Jews  for  preparation,  and  also  for  a  change  in  their 
affairs,  such  as  came  to  pass.  The  great  feast  of  Purim, 
which  to  this  day  is  celebrated  by  the  Jews  in  commemora- 
tion ,of  this  dehverance,  and  on  which  the  Book  of  Esther  is 
publicly  read,  as  we  read  our  Declaration  of  Independence  on 
the  nation's  birthday,  is  a  memorial  of  divine  providence, 
which  serves  a  purpose  such  as  no  abstract  maxims  with  re- 
gard to  confidence  in  God,  whether  addressed  to  men  or  na- 
tions, could  possibly  accomplish. 

Public  events  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament  have  a  singu- 
larly powerful  effect  on  the  private  conscience  and  heart  of 
an  attentive,  prayerful  reader.  "  I  understand,  indeed,"  says 
Professor  Stuart,  "  what  is  meant  when  we  are  forbidden  to 
exult  over  misfortunes.  But  when  Edom  is  held  up  before  my 
eyes  by  Obadiah,  as  having  rushed  upon  the  Jews  in  the  day  of 
their  humiliation  by  the  power  of  Babylon  ;  when  the  imbit- 
tered  enmity,  the  spirit  of  vengeance  and  rapacity,  and  the 
unspeakable  meanness  of  the  Edomites,  and  their  consequent 
punishment,  are  embodied,  and  made  palpable,  and  held  up  to 
open  view  in  this  way,  —  I  am  far  more  affected,  and  even  in- 
structed by  it,  than  I  am  by  the  abstiact  precept  in  question." 
So  true  is  it  that  "  whatsoever  things  were  xcritten  aforetime 
were  written  for  our  learning,  that  we,  through  patience  and 
comfort  of  the  ScrijJtiires,  might  have  hope." 

As  to  the  lateness  of  the  time  when  the  Bible  was  finished, 
it  is  well  known  that  for  a  long  period  God  communicated 
with  men  by  word  of  mouth,  often  immediately,  and  also  by 
the  ministrations  of  angels  and  men.  The  0:d  Testament 
grew  to  its  present  size  while  events  were  occurring  to  make 
up  an  instructive  history  of  divine  providence;  and   during 


OUR    BIBLE.  63 

this  period  God,  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners,  was 
speaking  to  the  fathers  by  tlie  prophets.  We  will  not  impugn 
his  wisdom  in  deciding  as  he  did  when  the  fuhiess  of  time 
should  be  regarded  as  having  come,  and  the  INIessiah  should 
appear.  Unless  the  world  had  been  eternal,  its  creation  must 
inevitably  have  been  "  late,"  in  one  sense,  let  it  have  taken 
place  when  it  would  ;  for  as  eternity  had  no  beginning,  the  ques- 
tion could  still  have  been  asked,  why  the  world  was  not  made 
sooner.  Though  the  New  Testament  greatly  enhances  the  value 
of  the  Old,  and  was  necessarily  connected  with  the  progress  of 
the  divine  purposes,  and  must,  therefore,  in  due  time,  be  writ- 
ten, yet  the  Old  Testament  was  all  sufficient  for  the  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  salvation  ;  for  the  apostle  bids  Timothy  re- 
member, "  From  a  cliild  thou  hast  known  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
which  are  able  to  make  thee  wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus." 

If  it  be  required  that,  to  make  a  proper  Bible,  every  ques- 
tion, and  every  case,  which  can  possibly  arise,  shall  be  recorded 
and  considered,  we  must  abandon  the  idea  of  one  portable  con- 
venient volume ;  and  the  great  majority  of  the  world  will  be 
prevented,  by  the  expensiveness  of  such  records,  from  possess- 
ing a  written  revelation.  Divine  wisdom  is  conspicuous  as  to 
the  size  of  the  Bible,  making  it  accessible  to  all.  God  had 
kept  the  nations  apart  for  ages,  by  withholding  from  them  the 
means  of  easy  and  rapid  transition  from  place  to  place  ;  but 
when  many  ran  to  and  fro,  knowledge  was  also  increased,  and 
the  Bible  came  forth  in  forms  suited  to  universal  distribution- 
But  who  hath  known  the  mind  of  the  Lord,  or  who  hath  been 
his  counsellor,  as  to  the  long  period  during  which  a  completed 
Bible  was  withheld  from  the  race  ?  Enough,  from  age  to 
age,  was  afforded,  in  various  ways,  so  that  God  did  not  leave 
himself  witliout  witness  ;  bnt  why  the  Bible,  in  its  completed 
form,  has  been  enjoyed  for  only  eighteen  hundred  years  past, 


64  OUR    BIBLE. 

is  a  question  which  must  be  left  without  any  answer  except 
that  such  was  the  divine  will. 


LOST   BOOKS    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

It  is  said  that  some  inspired  books  have  been  lost.  They 
fulfilled  their  purpose,  however,  and  were  suffered  to  perish. 
The  ark  of  God  has  perished,  with  the  tables  of  stone,  the 
pot  of  manna,  and  Aaron's  rod.  Many  of  the  words  and 
works  of  Christ  were  not  recorded ;  this,  however,  does  not 
weaken  the  evidence  of  inspiration  in  those  which  have  been 
preserved. 

VARIETY    OF    WRITERS. 

The  employment  of  many  men  to  compose  the  Bible,  instead 
of  being  an  argument  against  unity  of  design  and  origin,  is  a 
proof  of  divine  wisdom,  for  it  secures  a  necessary  variety  of 
style  and  subject.  The  seemingly  accidental  way  in  which  the 
book  is  made  up,  —  an  event,  a  character,  being  taken  here 
and  there,  to  constitute  the  volume,  —  gives  the  book  a  charm 
which  redeems  it  from  all  imputation  of  monotony. —  God 
designed  to  teach  the  world,  for  all  time,  one  instructive  les- 
son with  regard  to  his  control  in  human  affairs  ;  how  he  frus- 
trates wicked  men,  how  he  delivers  the  innocent,  and  that,  in 
times  of  great  extremity,  he,  by  a  simple  event,  can  not  only 
deliver,  but  send  prosperity.  In  what  way  shall  he  most  im- 
pressively teach  this  ?  He  causes  the  Book  of  Esther  to  be 
written,  and  no  romantic  tale  or  veritable  history  illustrates 
in  so  signal  a  manner  the  doctrine  of  God's  providence,  wheth- 
er towards  a  man  or  a  nation. 

He  designs  to  teach  this  great,  important  truth,  that  this 
life  is  a  state  of  trial,  not  of  reward,  and  that  prosperity  and 
adversity  are  no  evidence  with  regard  to  character ;  that  un- 


OURBIBLE.  65 

questioning  submission  to  God  under  chastisements  is  the  duty 
of  all 

The  Book  of  Job  is  prepared,  and  goes  into  the  inspired 
vokune ;  those  subjects  are  discussed,  ilhistrated,  finished,  for 
all  generations. 

Devotional  poetry,  prophecy,  history,  sententious  sayings, 
the  history  of  Christ,  and  the  exposition  of  Christian  doctrines 
and  morals,  make  the  volume  complete ;  it  is  tested  by  suc- 
ceeding ages  ;  the  evidences  of  inspiration  in  each  of  its  parts 
satisfy  its  contemporaries,  and  at  length  the  completed  volume 
goes  forth  to  the  end  of  time,  the  work  of  infinite  wisdom ; 
such,  that  if  Almighty  God  should  now  propose  to  make  a 
revelation  to  the  world  in  the  shape  of  a  book,  to  instruct 
men  as  to  his  character  and  their  duty,  we  see  no  reason  why 
it  would  not  be  just  such  a  book  as  we  now  have.  Had  the 
book  been  written  in  heaven,  on  the  throne  of  God,  and  had 
been  visibly  handed  down  to  men,  it  would  not  be  more  truly 
the  inspired,  all-sufficient  word  and  revelation  of  God  than  it 
now  is. 

HOW    THE    BIBLE    WAS    ESTABLISHED. 

The  Jewish  church,  after  much  investigation  and  experi- 
ence, protracted  through  many  years,  finally  settled  the  ques- 
tion of  inspiration  with  regard  to  every  Hebrew  writing  that 
laid  claim  to  a  divine  origin.  It  is  interesting  to  look  at  the 
history  of  opinions  with  regard  to  various  books  professing  to 
be  divinely  inspired,  and  to  watch  the  waning  credit  of  many 
of  them,  till  at  last  none  but  those  which  remain  to  the  present 
day  took  their  permanent  place  as  the  acknowledged  w^ord  of 
God. 

Great  objection  is  felt  by  some  to  this  method  in  which  so 
important  a  thing  as  a  Bible  for  the  whole  race,  to  the  end  of 
time,  should  have  been  produced ;  for  it  appears  toa  accident 
6* 


QQ  OUR    BIBLE. 

al,  too  entirely  human,  the  result  of  mere  popular  opinion, 
aided,  perhaps,  by  influences  which  were  not  consistent  with 
entire  liberty  of  thought.  We  know  not,  it  is  said,  what 
bribes,  what  coercion,  were  employed,  here  and  there,  to  gain 
currency  for  one  book,  and  to  depreciate  another.  A  revela- 
tion from  God  for  the  whole  race  to  the  end  of  the  world,  it 
is  claimed,  ought  to  be  accompanied  with  infallible  signs  of 
its  being  the  work  of  God  ;  it  should  wear  a  broad  seal,  which 
none  could  mistake  nor  counterfeit. 

To  this  it  may  be  replied,  that  the  manner  in  which  the 
most  essential  truths  are  every  where  established,  corresponds 
to  this  very  method  in  which  the  Bible  itself  was  given. 
Those  truths  are  the  subjects  of  investigation  and  debate  ;  the 
history  of  their  influence  is  ascertained  ;  their  present  practical 
eflPect,  their  consistency,  one  with  another,  are  considered. 

The  laws  which  regulate  the  formation  of  a  character,  and 
of  a  reputation,  seem  to  have  governed  in  the  establishment  of 
the  Scriptures  as  of  divine  authority.  Men  in  trouble,  in. 
prison  and  banishment,  under  confiscation  of  goods,  bereaved 
of  dearest  friends  for  the  truth's  sake,  the  sick,  the  dying,  the 
emperor,  the  peasant,  the  slave,  the  counsellor,  the  sellers  of 
purple,  the  tent  makers,  the  rich  and  the  beggar,  were  led  to 
test  the  various  Avritings  claiming  to  be  inspired ;  and  the 
result  was  that  some  of  them  were  not  found  to  answer  the 
purpose  of  a  divine  guide;  for  some  unaccountable  reason 
there  was  no  response  to  them  from  the  recesses  of  the  soul ; 
they  did  not  lodge  in  the  memory ;  they  were  not  often  quoted ; 
the  assemblies  in  which  they  were  read  showed  signs  of  indif- 
ference, and  yet  men  were  aroused  when  certain  other  manu- 
scripts were  unrolled,  and  the  public  teachers  stood  up  with 
them  for  to  read.  Now,, instead  of  objecting  to  all  this  as  too 
casual,  too  much  like  good  and  ill  luck,  caprice,  it  may  rather  be 
§aid  that  there  is  something  divinely  appropriate  and  beautiful 


OUR     BIBLE.  67 

in  it,  honorable  to  the  human  understanding  and*  heart,  and  lay- 
ing the  deepest  foundations  for  a  lasting  hold  upon  the  confidence 
of  the  world.  An  author,  whose  great  desire  is  to  establish  his 
doctrines  in  the  approbation  and  love  of  men,  would  prefer  to 
have  them  received,  at  first,  cautiously,  and  with  a  spirit  of  free 
inquiry,  and  obtain  a  permanent  place  in  the  human  mind  from 
their  intrinsic  excellence,  and  the  experimental  evidence  of  their 
adaptedness  to  the  moral  feelings  of  men,  rather  than  obtain 
implicit  deference  to  them  from  his  position.  We  may,  there- 
fore, confidently  ask  if  the  way  in  which  the  authenticity  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  has  been  verified,  by  subjecting  them,  with 
other  writings,  claiming  inspiration,  to  the  scrutiny  of  experi- 
ence, be  not  more  in  accordance  with  our  ideas  of  the  highest 
liberty,  and  more  honorable  to  God  and  man,  than  though 
they  had  been  enjoined  upon  us  by  the  simple;  direct  injunc- 
tion of  Heaven. 

If  it  be  said  that  this  method  of  establishing  the  authenticity 
of  a  revelation  from  Heaven  leaves  too  much  to  the  caprices 
of  the  human  mind,  it  may  be  replied,  that  if  the  writings  in 
question  be  inspired,  and  are  designed  by  the  Most  High  to 
be  his  revelation  to  the  world,  they  will  surely,  in  some  way, 
gain  credence ;  for  his  word  shall  not  return  to  him  void ; 
therefore  the  only  question  is,  In  what  way  do  we  agree  that 
the  authority  of  these  writings  can  best  be  established  ? 
Allowing  that  God  will  bestow  upon  us  certain  inspired  writ- 
ings, is  there  any  better  way  in  which  they  can  obtain  power 
and  authority  than  by  their  intrinsic  influence  over  the  human 
mind?  Now,  if  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  not  inspired,  the  hold 
which  they  have  gained  over  the  human  understanding,  con- 
science, and  heart,  is  a  greater  miracle  than  their  inspiration. 

If  it  can  be  shown  that  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  in 
the  time  of  Christ  were  altogether  genuine,  and  had  not  been 
corrupted   nor  diminished   by  the  Jewish  scribes,  and  if  thea 


68  OUR     BIBLE. 

it  appears  that  the  Saviour  recognized  them  as  of  divine 
authority,  we  see  not  how  any  can  refuse  to  aj^ply  the  name 
"  word  of  God"  to  those  wi-itings.  If  errors  could  creep  into 
them  and  corrupt  them  in  their  essential ,  parts,  so  that  no  one 
could  tell  whether  they  were  divine  or  of  merely  human  origin, 
of  course  their  authority  would  cease. 

CHRIST    DID    NOT    AMEND    THE    SCRIPTURES. 

It  is  remarkable  that  among  the  severe  reproofs  which 
Christ  addressed  to  the  Jewish  scribes,  in  which  he  accused 
them  of  making  the  word  of  God  of  none  effect  through  their 
traditions,  he  never  accuses  them  of  altering  the  Scriptures 
On  the  contrary,  he  appeals  to  those  Scriptures  as  the  authen- 
tic word  of  God.  If  among  tlie  received  Scriptures  there 
were  a  single  book  of  doubtful  authority,  we  must  believe  that, 
among  his  other  instructions,  he  would  have  taught  the  people 
what  was  the  true  word  of  God.  Much  more,  if  one  of  those 
books  had  no  right  in  the  sacred  canon,  the  Great  Teacher 
would,  first  of  all,  have  purified  the  source  of  religious  instruc- 
tion in  the  writings  which  were  read  to  the  people  as  the 
words  of  the  Most  High.  He  who  made  a  scourge  of  small 
cords,  and  drove  out  the  traffickers  from  the  temple,  would  not 
have  been  less  jealous  against  a  lying  pentateuch  or  a  false 
prophet.  Esther,  the  Song  of  Solomon,  David's  imprecations, 
Jonah,  were  not  expunged  by  Him  who,  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
JNIount,  reviewed  the  traditionary  laws,  corrected  the  glosses, 
set  aside  the  impositions  of  the  Jewish  teachers,  and  pro- 
nounced "woe"  upon  those  who  tithed  mint,  anise,  and  cum- 
in, to  the  neglect  of  weightier  matters  ;  and  surely  it  were 
a  weightier  matter  to  reform  a  nation's  Bible  than  to  correct 
the  practices  relating  to  temple  offerings.  "  All  things,"  said 
he,  after  Ms  resurrection,  "  must  be  fulfilled  which  were  written 


OUR     BIBLE.  69 

in  the  Law  of  Moses,  and  in  the  Prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms, 
concerning  me." 

CHRIST    LEFT   NO    WRITING    OF    HIS    OWN. 

Up  to  that  time,  he  found  no  occasion  to  make  any  new 
inspired  book  to  reform,  or  to  complete,  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures.  The  Great  Teacher  was  himself  satisfied  with 
"  the  Law,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Psalms."  Though  he  were 
expecting  that  his  disciples  would  write  his  own  history,  it  is 
a  marvel  that  he  did  not  write  or  dictate  some  book  which 
should  be  a  Key,  or  an  Index  Expurgatorius,  to  the  Old 
Testament,  if  there  were  a  hundredth  part  as  much  necessity 
for  it  as  some  of  our  freethinkers  assert.  He,  however,  had 
nothing  to  write  in  emendation  of  the  Old  Testament.  "  He 
saw  that  it  was  good." 

NATURE    OF    INSPIRATION. 

What  kind  of  inspiration  does  the  word  of  God  possess  ? 
Or  in  what  sense,  and  to  what  extent,  is  the.Bible  the  word 
of  God? 

The  answer  is,  God  imparted  revelations,  guidance,  and 
superintendence  to  the  sacred  penmen,  so  that  the  Holy 
Scriptures  were  sanctioned  by  him  as  his  authorized  word. 

To  paraphrase  this  proposition:  "When  it  was  necessary 
that  the  sacred  writers  should  know  things  which  the  human 
mind  could  not  discover,  as,  for  example,  future  events,  or  the 
will  of  God  relating  to  particular  things,  God  made  special 
revelations  to  the  writers  of  the  Bible. 

When  they  were  writing  histories,  God  assisted  and  guided 
their  recollections,  and  provided  them  with  suitable  sources 
of  information,  so  that  they  wrote  true  history. 

When  they  recorded  common  things,  he  superintended  them* 


70  OURBIBLE. 

SO  that  they  made  no  mistake,  nor  inserted  any  thing  incon- 
sistent with,  or  prejudicial  to,  the  harmony  of  truth,  either  in 
thought  or  expression. 

This,  it  will  be  perceived,  amounts  to  what  is  called  ^^  plen- 
ary inspiration,'^  from  the  Latin  plenus,  full. 

PLENARY   INSPIRATION. 

Let  us  take  it  for  granted  that  the  things  recorded  in  the 
New  Testament  did  actually  occur.  It  would  occupy  space 
to  prove  this  which  cannot  now  be  so  employed,  especially  as 
it  is  generally  admitted  that  the  New  Testament,  whatever  may 
be  said  of  its  inspiration,  is  an  honest  record  of  events ;  — 
those  things  happened,  which  are  there  narrated  by  men  who 
had  nothing  of  a  worldly  nature  to  gain  by  believing  and 
asserting  them;  but  they  did,  many  of  them,  suffer  stripes, 
imprisonment,  persecutions,  and  death,  in  attestation  of  the 
things  which  they  had  seen  and  heard.  We  take  the  records 
of  these  men,  sealed  with  their  blood,  and  from  them  we  prove 
the  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New. 

Christ  promised  those  who  were  to  write  the  New  Testament 
that  they  should  he  divinely  inspired  for  their  worh. 

In  his  last  discourse  with  his  disciples  before  he  suffered, 
he  said  to  them,  "  But  the  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy 
Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  he  shall  teach 
you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance 
whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you."  "  Howbeit,  when  he,  the 
Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  will  guide  you  into  all  truth  ;  for 
he  shall  not  speak  of  himself,  but  whatsoever  he  shall  hear, 
that  shall  he  speak  ;  and  he  will  show  you  things  to  come." 

After  his  resurrection,  Jesus  met  them,  and  said,  "  Peace 
be  unto  you ;  as  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I 


OURBIBLE.  71 

you."  No  commission  could  be  more  complete.  "  And  when 
he  had  said  this,  he  breathed  on  them  and  saith  unto  them,  Re- 
ceive ye  the  Holy  Ghost."  With  such  promises,  and  such  a  com- 
mission, it  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  whatever  they  did  or 
wrote,  professing  to  be  the  will  and  the  truth  of  God,  was  under 
the  full  direction  of  the  divin  Spirit.  Christ  here  gives  them 
an  unqualified  appointment  to  act  in  all  things  pertaining  to  his 
religion.  But  nothing  could  be  of  greater  importance  to  the 
Avorld  than  a  faithful  record  of  what  he  did  and  said,  and  cor- 
rect expositions  of  divine  truth  for  the  use  of  generations  in 
all  future  time.  We  may  rest  our  belief  of  the  full  inspira- 
tion of  all  which  the  New  Testament  contains  on  this,  that 
Jesus  Christ  promised  his  disciples  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
should  abide  with  them  forever,  so  that  in  every  thing  essen- 
tial to  correct  religious  knowledge,  they  should  be  led  into  all 
truth.  Two  writers  of  the  New  Testament  are  not  included 
in  the  number  of  those  to  whom  these  promises  were  person- 
ally made.  Paul  w^as,  however,  called  to  be  an  apostle  by 
Jesus  Christ  himself,  and  of  course  was  invested  with  all  the 
powers  and  privileges  of  apostleship.  Luke  was  his  com- 
panion ;  and  the  agreement  of  Luke's  Gospel  with  those  of 
the  three  disciples  and  evangelists,  confirmed  his  claim,  in  the 
minds  of  the  early  Christian  world,  to  equal  inspiration  with 
the  rest. 

The  writers  of  the  New  Testament  received  and  gave  the 
fullest  evidence  that,  in  their  apostolic  office,  they  were  com- 
missioned from  God. 

By  the  miracle  at  Pentecost,  soon  noised  abroad,  they  were 
proclaimed  to  the  promiscuous  multitudes  from  many  parts  of 
the  world,  who  were  present  at  the  feast,  as  the  authorized  and 
commissioned  apostles  of  God.  So  that,  whether  they  pub- 
lished the  gospel,  by  preaching  or  writing,  to  their  contempo- 
raries or  to  future  times,  all  that  they  said  was  authorized  of 


72  OUR     BIBLE. 

God,  unless  we  can  find  something  wliicli  recalled  or  limited 
their  commission.  The  presence  of  God  was  with  them  in 
their  ministry.  Ananias  and  Sappliira  fell  dead  at  the  word 
of  Peter ;  the  cripple  at  the  temple  walks ;  Dorcas  is  brought 
back  from  the  dead  by  the  same  word.  An  angel  described 
one  apostle  to  Cornelius,  an  inquiring  Gentile,  as  the  man 
appointed  of  God  to  teach  the  Gentile  world  the  Christian 
religion. 

John  in  Patmos  was  commissioned  by  the  Saviour  in  person 
to  write.  Paul  is  caught  up  to  the  third  heavens.  Such  ac- 
knowledged ministers  of  God  could  not  be  permitted  to  record 
any  thing  as  truth,  or  as  direct  revelation  from  God,  for  the 
use  of  men  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  and  be  neglected  or  for- 
saken of  God  while  they  did  it.  The  same  necessity  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  should  lead  them  into  all  truth  while  they  were 
speaking,  existed  when  engaged  in  so  great  a  matter  as  com- 
posing the  Bible  for  all  coming  time,  when  inspiration  should 
cease. 

Admit,  then,  that  what  the  New  Testament  asserts  re- 
specting these  men  is  true,  and  the  inference  is  reasonable 
that  in  all  which  they  did,  said,  and  wrote,  connected  with  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  and  of  religious  truth,  they  have,  unless 
there  be  express  notice  to  the  contrary,  the  sanction  of  Al- 
mighty God. 

Receiving,  then,  the  New  Testament  as  written  by  divinely 
inspired  men,  we  come  to  consider  that 

Christ  and  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  appeal  to  the 
hooJcs  of  the  Old  Testament  as  of  divine  authority. 

If  one  asked  the  Saviour  what  was  the  greatest  command 
ment  of  all,  Christ  said,  "  What  saith  the  Scripture  ?     How 
readest    thou?"     He    quoted    Moses,   and   David,   and   the 
Prophets  ;  he  "  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil  "  them  ;  and, 
after  his  resurrection,  he  set  his  seal  to  them  all  by  saying, 


OUR    BIBLE.  73 

with  reference  to  the  sufferings,  "  Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus 
it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer  and  to  rise  from  the  dead."  He 
had  forborne  to  use  his  p^pwer  in  self-defence,  saying,  "  How 
then  shall  the  Scriptures  be  fulfilled  that  thus  it  must  be  ? " 
"  And  beginning  at  Moses  and  all  the  prophets,  he  expounded 
unto  them  in  all  the  Scriptures  the  things  concerning  himself." 

Some  of  the  sacred  writers  were  miraculously  informed 
of  future   events. 

The  prophecies  respecting  Tyre,  Nineveh,  and  Damas- 
<us,  compared  with  their  subsequent  history,  are  illustra- 
tions. How  did  Isaiah  know  that  there  was  to  be  a  mon- 
arch on  the  throne  of  Persia  whose  name  would  be  Cyrus, 
and  that  he  would  restore  the  Jews  from  their  captivity? 
How,  without  divine  aid,  could  he  describe  the  minute  cir- 
cumstances of  the  Saviour's  appearance,  death,  and  burial, 
seven  centuries  before  Christ  was  born,  with  such  accuracy, 
in  things  improbable  and  seemingly  contradictory,  that  Por- 
phyry insisted,  with  the  early  Christians,  that  these  words 
of  Isaiah  must  have  been  written  by  an  eye  witness  of  the 
crucifixion,  and  were  therefore  a  forgery  ? 

If  we  can  establish  the  inspiration  of  a  single  writer  of  the 
Bible  by  showing  that  future  eVents  were  miraculously  made 
known  to  him,  or  if  by  any  other  method  of  proof  his  divine 
authority  is  proved,  it  serves  for  evidence  that  all  whom  he 
recognizes  as  inspired,  are,  equally  with  him,  entitled  to  full 
belief  as  commissioned  by  Heaven. 

The  writers  of  the  Bible  had  divine  aid  in  recording  things 
which  were  past. 

It  is  not  unfair  to  take  the  Bible  as  it  now  is,  and  with  its 
present  influence  over  the  human  mind,  and  argue,  that  such 
records  as  many  of  them  are,  would  not  have  been  allowed  to 
take  their  place   as  chronicles  of  divine  providence,  and  the 

7 


74  OURBIBLE. 

only  connected  history  of  the  intercourse  of  God  with  men, 
without  superintendence  'On  the  part  of  the  Most  High.  But 
apart  from  this,  how  can  we  think  that  Moses  would  have 
given  the  history  of  the  creation  with  such  particularity, 
without  divine  aid  ?  Or  how  can  we  believe  that,  if  he  re- 
ceived all  those  particulars  from  tradition,  God  would  have 
left  him  to  the  liabilities,  to  which  every  unassisted  mind  is 
exposed,  of  mistake  ?  As^  to  the  evangelists,  they  were  unin- 
structed  men,  of  humble  life  ;  if  a  record  of  Christ's  life,  and 
a  knowledge  of  his  gospel,  are  important,  in  that  proportion  we 
may  have  assurance  that  the  Holy  Spirit  would,  as  Christ 
said,  bring  to  their  remembrance  all  things  which  he  had  ut- 
tered. We  sometimes  hear  the  writers  of  the  Gospels  referred 
to  as  "humble  note  takers  and  reporters."  The  idea  of  their 
making  a  record,  at  the  time,  of  the  words  of  Christ,  is  not 
consonant  with  the  impressions  which  they  make  upon  us  in 
their  daily  life.  Indeed,  is  it  not  slightly  ludicrous  ?  They 
seem  never  to  have  had  such  forecastings,  or  to  have  reflected 
upon  the  passing  events  of  their  intercourse  with  Christ  in  so 
studied  a  way,  as  to  make  us  feel  that  the  taking  of  notes  was 
any  part  of  their  occupation.  Had  they  done  so,  we  should, 
probably,  have  found  them  anxious  to  establish  the  authority 
of  their  writings  by  informing  their  readers  that  their  reports 
of  the  Saviour's  words  were  recorded  at  or  near  the  moment 
when  they  were  spoken.  Instead  of  this,  however,  we  find 
the  Saviour  promising  them  that  the  Holy  Spirit  would  supply 
their  memories  with  all  needful  information.  This  being  so, 
we  can  see,  from  our  own  experience,  how  unlikely  it  is  that 
such  men  should,  of  themselves,  have  recorded  such  dis- 
courses as  those  of  the  Saviour,  without  supernatural  aid.  It  is 
difficult  for  most  hearers,  —  sometimes  for  the  preacher  himself, 
to  recollect  the  text,  after  not  many  hours,  or  a  day  or  two,  have 
passed ;  and  every  one  knows  the  difficulty  of  giving  a  con- 


0  U  R    B  T  r>  L  E  .  75 

iiected  account  of  a  discourse  to  wliicli  we  have  listened.  In 
giving  a  friend  at  home  some  account  of  an  addi-ess  which  had 
given  us  pleasure,  we  are  always  reminded  how  imperfect  is 
our  recollection ;  we  are  pained  at  our  inability  to  repeat 
things  which,  at  the  time,  it  seemed  to  us  we  could  never  for- 
get ;  and  we  summarily  conclude  our  narrative  of  the  address 
by  saying,  "  I  wish  that  you  could  have  heard  it,"  which  is 
regarded  rather  as  a  confession  of  our  incompetency  than  a 
consolation,  by  the  listener. 

One  of  the  most  difficult  parts  of  the  Bible,  and  one  of 
peculiar  importance  as  to  perfect  accuracy  of  thought  and 
expression,  is  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  —  that  code  of  Chris- 
tian morals,  that  exposition  of  first  principles  in  the  new  sys- 
tem by  the  Great  Teacher.  It  seems  to  be  morally  certain, 
with  regard  to  this  record,  that  no  unassisted  human  mind 
could  have  written,  or  would  have  been  permitted  to  write, 
such  a  portion  of  the  Bible.  What  nice  discriminations  have 
we  here!  what  important  strictures  upon  the  hitherto  received 
doctrine  of  the  public  teachers  !  what  vital  truths  relating  to 
spiritual  religion  !  and  what  a  lucid  order  and  unencumbered 
statement  characterize  this  remarkable  record  !  He  who  be- 
lieves that  it  could  have  been  written,  or  would  have  been 
permitted  to  be  written,  by  the  publican  Matthew  without 
divine  aid  and  sanction,  ought  not  to  charge  believers  in  rev- 
elation with  credulity. 

VERBAL     INSPIRATION. 

While  it  was  by  no  means  necessary  that  every  word  which 
the  writers  of  the  Bible  recorded  should  have  been  suggested 
to  them  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  nor  that  He  should  inform  them, 
for  example,  how  far  Bethany  was  from  Jerusalem,  yet  it  is 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  he  superintended  all  which  they 


76  OURBIBLE. 

wrote,  so  that  they  should  be  correct  in  their  expressions  and 
statements.  This  is  essential  to  a  professed  revelation  from 
God ;  for  while  the  natural  faculties  of  men  may  be  employed 
in  writing  it,  we  must  feel  that  God  superintended  them,  so 
that  they  might  not  err.  For  the  same  reason  that  we  believe 
that  God  gave  a  revelation,  we  must  believe  that  he  superin- 
tended and  guided  those  who  wrote,  so  that  it  should  be  his 
approved  and  sanctioned  word. 

J£  it  be  asked,  then,  whether  we  believe  that  all  the  words 
of  Scripture  were  inspired,  that  is,  divinely  suggested,  the 
answer  is,  Of  the  direct  suggestion  of  many  of  them  there  can 
be  no  question ;  for  the  writers  themselves  report  Avhat  they 
heard  the  Almighty  speak.  As  it  regards  other  cases,  words 
are  essential  to  thought ;  we  cannot  have  a  definite  thought 
without  the  help  of  silent  words.  The  sacred  writers  could 
not,  in  the  nature  of  things,  have  received  even  a  direct,  silent 
communication  from  God  without  the  suggestion  of  words. 
When  a  symbol  is  suggested  to  awaken  thought,  for  example, 
figs  to  Jeremiah,  or  the  sheet  filled  with  animals  to  Peter,  the 
thoughts  suggested  by  them  must  clothe  themselves  in  words 
before  they  could  become  intelligible.  When  the  prophet  or 
apostle  came  to  utter  or  record  these  thoughts,  he  would  be 
most  likely  to  use  the  words  which  had  vividly  shone  into  his 
mind  at  the  moment  of  inspiration.  It  seems  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  he  would  speak  as  he  was  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

But  it  is  said,  there  are  some  remarks  in  Job,  for  example, 
and  in  Ecclesiastes,  which,  by  themselves,  are  not  true.  AYere 
they  inspired  ?  —  They  are  uttered  in  order  to  be  answered  ; 
or  to  make  out  a  drift  of  discourse  which  shall  illustrate  some- 
thing, and  help  on  the  great  purpose  of  the  writer.  A 
preacher  who  should  take  some  of  these  words  for  texts, 
separated  from  this  drift  and  design,  would  err ;  and  many  do. 


OURBIBLE.  77 

TVe  must  not  take  some  of  Satan's  words  concerning  Job,  and  try 
to  deduce  a  truth  from  them  ;  yet  we  may  take  such  passages  in 
their  connection,  for  texts  ;  and  in  so  doing  we  shall  fall  in 
with  the  plan  of  inspiration. 

But  it  is  said,  there  are  many  statements  in  the  Bible  which 
any  man  could  write  as  well  as  one  who  was  inspired  ;  for  in- 
stance, that  "  Nicodemus  was  a  ruler  of  the  Jews,"  that  "  Solo- 
mon built  him  a  house,"  that  Emmaus  '  was  about  threescore 
furlongs  from  Jerusalem.' 

But  surely  there  is  nothing  credulous  or  irrational  in  sup- 
posing that  the  Holy  Spirit  watched  over  the  sacred  writers 
to  see  that  they  did  not  err  in  their  incidental  statements. 
The  smaller  and  the  more  seemingly  unimportant  the  state- 
ment, the  more  necessary,  on  some  accounts,  that  it  should  be 
correct.  In  cross-questioning  a  witness,  one  catch.es  at  the 
incidental  expressions,  and  from  them  sometimes  constructs 
his  most  powerful  arguments.  The  undesigned  coincidences 
between  the  Gospels  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  are  made,, 
by  Dr.  Paley,  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  the  credibility  of 
the  New  Testament.  Suppose  that  the  sacred  writers  had 
made  mistakes  in  geography,  and  infidels  could  prove  it  ? 
We  see  from  the  discussions  connected  with  the  geology  of 
Scripture,  and  with  the  errors  in  dates,  distances,  and  numbei** 
which  have  crept  into  the  Bible^  what  use  would  have  been 
made  of  errors  which  could  be  proved  upon  the  writers.  It 
is  true  they  could  tell,  without  inspiration,  whether  Derbe  and 
Lystra  were  near  together ;  but  suppose  that  the  historian,  in.-«. 
stead  of  saying  Lystra.  had  said  Iconium ;  it  would  have  dis- 
paraged his  credibility  in  important  things.  It  is  reasonabl'© 
to  believe  in  a  superintending  divine  influence  extending  to* 
those  narratives  and  observations  which  needed  no  siujgestiv^ 
inspiration,  but  which  it  Avas  important  should  be  correct. 
—  Some  alleged  errors  of  statement  by  men  whifc  coiafessedly 
under  inspiration  will  be  noticed  hereafter^ 

7* 


78  OUR    BIBLE. 


HUMAN    CHARACTERISTICS    OF   INSPIRATION. 

Here  we  may  notice,  once  for  all,  those  obviously  humaa 
characteristics  of  the  Bible  which  lead  some  to  question  its  in- 
spiration. Paul  leaves  his  "cloak"  at  Ephesus,  and  his 
"  parchments,"  and  he  sends  directions  with  regard  to  them 
in  immediate  connection  with  what  are  claimed  to  be  divinely 
inspired  precepts.  Is  that  verse  relating  to  the  cloak  and 
parchments  inspired  ?  we  often  hear  it  asked.  If  not,  per- 
haps some  other  verses  are  not  inspired.  How  shall  we 
discriminate  ? 

We  will  add  to  tliis  a  few  more  cases,  and  consider  them 
together :  — 

"Now  Bethany  was  nigh  unto  Jerusalem,  about  fifteen 
furlongs  off." 

"  And  there  were  set  there  six  water  pots  of  stone,  contain- 
ing two  or  three  firkins  apiece." 

"  The  number  of  the  names  together  were  about  an  hundred 
and  twenty." 

Were  these  verses  inspired  ?  If  so,  why  did  not  the  in- 
spired writer  give  us  the  exact  measurements  and  numbers  in 
these  cases  ?  He  knew,  of  course,  how  many  names  more  or 
less  than  a  hundred  and  twenty,  were  assembled ;  and  so  in 
the  other  instances  of  ambiguous  statement. 

The  principle  of  explanation  is  this  :  Human  modes  of  think- 
ing and  speaking  are  used  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  compo- 
sition of  the  Bible.  Angelic  forms  of  expression  would  have 
been  out  of  place.  Of  the  many  different  writers  of  the  Bible, 
no  two  are  alike  in  style  ;  the  wisdom  of  God  has  adapted 
himself  to  the  tastes  and  feelings  of  men  in  causing  those  by 
whom  he  speaks,  to  think  and  spe^ik  in  the  way  peculiar  to 
their  own  genius  and  habits.  As  the  same  wind  has  different 
voices  among  the  leaves  of  oaks  and  in  the  pines,  so  the  breath 


OUR    BIBLE.  79 

of  the  Almighty  has  different  tones  in  tlie  hearts  ai.d  h'ps  of 
inspired  men.  The  style  in  the  book  of  Ruth,  and  in  Nahum, 
varies  with  the  subject.  John  is  different  in  his  modes  of 
thought  from  Luke  ;  there  is  a  diversity  of  operations,  but  the 
same  spirit.  The  human  qualities  of  the  writers  are  never 
confounded  by  the  highest  measure  of  inspiration,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  are  intensified.  Then,  again,  the  weaknesses,  and 
the  social  feelings,  the  private  friendships,  and  the  minute 
affairs  of  the  writer  are  allowed  to  infiltrate  themselves  with 
the  flow  of  inspired  thought  and  feehng,  all  serving  to  give 
the  book,  as  it  were,  incarnation  ;  "  the  word  is  made  flesh 
and  dwells  among  us."  As  the  Saviour's  hunger  and  weari- 
ness, limited  knowledge,  and  prayers,  are  as  essential  to  his 
effect  upon  us  as  the  proofs  of  his  Godhead,  so  when  we 
read  that  Paul  had  no  rest  in  his  spirit  because  he  found  not 
Titus  his  brother  at  a  certain  place,  notwithstanding  "  a  wide 
door,  and  an  effectual,"  of  usefulness  was  opened  to  him,  and 
when  a  score  of  verses  in  an  inspired  book  are  occupied 
wholly  with  messages  of  salutation  to  Christian  friends,  and 
the  inspired  man  is  found  forgetting,  perhaps,  his  parch- 
ments, and  is  compelled  to  leave  the  burdensome  cloak  be- 
hind him,  and  then  speaks  of  it  in  his  inspired  letter ;  and 
when  he  cannot,  by  any  effort,  remember  how  many  people 
he  had  baptized  in  a  certain  place,  —  we  think  that  we  may 
seem  deficient  in  some  of  the  qualifications  necessary  even  in 
judging  works  of  art,  if  we  take  exception  to  these  shadings, 
this  obscuring,  which  give  the  otherwise  intense  supernatural 
light  a  tone  suited  to  the  best  effect.  The  fairest  cheek  on 
canvas,  viewed  from  a  wrong  point,  looks  inconsistent ;  the 
proper  angle  of  vision  reduces  the  crossed  lines  to  harmony. 
No  work  of  art,  indeed  no  work  of  God  himself,  could  stand 
beforf  the  rules  of  criticism  which  are  sometimes  applied  to 
the  Bible.     The  true  theory  of  inspiration  is  in  harmony  with 


80  OUR    BIBLE. 

the  true  theory  of  every  thing  else  in  which  God  and  man  are 
co-workers ;  for  since  man  is  not  a  Memnon  s  statue,  with  its 
films  of  mica  for  the  wind  to  breathe  in,  but  is  a  free  agent, 
whose  freedom  is  never  destroyed  by  the  divine  agency,  we 
must  expect  to  see  human  qualities  exhibit  themselves  even 
amidst  the  highest  inspiration.  Old  Jacob,  on  his  dying  bed, 
rapt  in  vision,  pauses,  leans  back,  and  ejaculates,  "I  have 
waited  for  thy  salvation,  O  Lord."  Come,  now,  let  us  feel  for 
the  pulses  of  human  emotion,  and  of  the  divine  afflatus,  while 
he  is  thus  resting  with  a  long-drawn  sigh  ;  let  us  accurately 
determine  at  what  second,  by  the  watch,  inspiration  ceased, 
and  the  merely  human  feeling  coursed  through  him  ;  for,  if 
we  cannot  thus,  or  by  some  spirometer,  or  stethoscope,  distin- 
guish between  the  breath  of  the  Almighty  and  the  breath  of 
Jacob,  how  can  we  tell  what  part  of  the  forty-ninth  chapter  of 
Genesis  is  inspired  ?  —  And  yet,  what  harm  will  happen  in 
such  a  case  ?  Let  the  devout  aspiration  of  the  dying  saint 
prove  to  have  been  such  as  any  uninspired  man  could  have 
expressed, —  is  there  error  in  it  ?  Is  it  not  in  such  contiguity 
Avith  supernatural  vision  that  it  will  be  safe  to  regard  it  as 
permitted,  superintended  ?  and  even  if  there  be  no  practical 
use  in  it,  as  there  surely  is  to  every  dying  Christian  who  may 
be  expiring  in  old  age,  like  Jacob,  we  may  as  well  object  that 
the  grains  of  earth  which  come  to  us  upon  the  roots  of  a  plant, 
are  inconsistent  with  the  perfection  of  the  flower.  Those 
grains  of  earth  are  a  witness  for  the  soil  in  which  the  plant 
grew. 

INFIRMITIES    OF    THE    SACRED    "WRITERS. 

The  plenary  inspiration  of  the  Bible  does  not  make  it 
necessary  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  should  not  have  dis}  uted 
and  separated ;  or  that  Peter  should  not  have  used  dissimu- 
lation and  be  blamed  by  Paul.     Inspiration  in   writing,  the 


OURBIBLE.  81 

inspired  directions  which  they  gave,  the  inspired  truths 
which  they  taught,  the  divine  miracle  which  they  performed, 
do  not  cover  all  their  thoughts,  words,  and  actions,  at  all  times 
with  sanctity  ;  nor  make  them  omniscient.  Paul  did  not  know 
the  High  Priest  before  whom  he  was  speaking.  These  fallible 
men  were  endued,  upon  occasion,  with  a  divine  authority ; 
all  which  they  did  and  said  at  such  times  is  the  word  and  the 
act  of  the  Almighty. 

But  there  are  alleged  errors  of  inspired  men  which  are 
capable  of  solution.  An  instance  is  in  the  speech  of  Stephen, 
who,  while  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  speaks  of  the  burying  place 
of  the  patriarchs,  and  the  number  of  Jacob's  family  in  Egypt, 
in  a  way  to  occasion  trouble  to  many.  These,  however,  can  be 
explained.  So  with  regard  to  the  allegation  that  the  apostles 
believed  and  taught  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  nigh. 

Paul  is  careful  to  tell  us  at  times,  that  he  is  not  speaking 
under  divine  direction,  but  is  giving  his  private  advice.  We 
are  left  to  infer,  therefore,  that  at  other  times  when  he  speaks 
to  us,  and  we  are  not  otherwise  notified,  it  is  by  divine  inspi- 
ration. 

It  is  interesting  to  reflect  that  the  Bible  has  no  one  charac- 
ter, real  or  fictitious,  which  it  exalts,  as  writers  of  poems  and 
certain  histories  do  their  heroes  or  worthies.  We  find  in 
Scripture  no  Cyrus,  with  his  Xenophon,  no  Achilles,  with  his 
Homer,  no  ^neas,  with  his  Virgil  to  laud  his  virtues  and  con- 
ceal or  apologize  for  his  mistakes  and  follies.  It  is  wonderful 
in  what  contrast  to  all  this  is  the  manner  in  which  the  Bible  por- 
trays its  powerful  characters.  Abraham,  and  Lot,  and  Jacob, 
and  Moses,  and  David,  and  Solomon,  and  some  of  the  best  of  the 
kings,  are  set  forth  to  us  without  the  least  concealment :  no 
effort  is  made  to  palliate  their  faults  by  offering  a  sympathizing 
word  as  to  the  strength  of  temptation,  or  the  frailty  of  our 
common  nature.     Transparent  honesty  marks  every  delinea- 


82  OUR     BIBLE. 

tion  of  a  life  and  character.  It  is  not  presumption  to  say  that 
none  but  God  would  have  made  such  a  book,  —  the  God  who 
requireth  "  truth  in  the  inward  parts,  and  in  the  hidden  parts, 
will  make  us  to  know  wisdom."  But  now,  in  return  for  all 
this  candor,  —  if  we  may  use  the  term  in  such  connection,  —  all 
this  divine  simplicity,  this  perfect  truthfulness,  many  speak 
of  the  good  men  of  the  Bible  in  ways  which  do  not  show  that 
they  appreciate  the  manner  of  the  Bible  in  this  particular,  or 
that  they  have  ever  seen  each  the  plague  of  his  own  heart. 
They  wonder  at  Abraham ;  they  call  Jacob  by  opprobrious 
names ;  David  is  a  perpetual  subject  of  their  irony ;  they  can- 
not speak  of  Solomon  without  lifting  a  hand  to  conceal  a 
smile  on  their  half-averted  faces.  It  is  not  demanded  of  us 
that  we  approve  or  excuse  the  sins  of  these  good  men.  But, 
it  is  becoming  in  us  to  remember,  that  it  was  from  amid  the 
ruins  of  fallen  human  nature  that  God  was  obliged  to  select 
his  saints ;  that  we  know  the  worst  of  these  men ;  that  their 
repentance  and  confession,  in  some  instances,  are  known  to  be 
proportioned  to  their  fall ;  that  the  mercy  of  God,  which  we  all 
so  much  need,  is  illustrated  in  commending  and  loving  those 
who  had  been  guilty  of  such  departures  from  him  ;  and  that 
the  Saviour  of  the  world  recognized  them  as  good  men.  If, 
instead  of  forgiving  them,  and  calling  them,  still,  men  after 
his  own  heart,  God  had  cast  them  off,  he  would  have  been 
reproached  for  severity,  as  now  for  leniency.  True,  some  are 
not  satisfied  by  this  last  consideration,  but  they  rather  impeach 
Christianity  and  its  Founder  for  not  complying  with  their  own 
standard  of  morality.  It  is  enough,  however,  for  the  disciple, 
in  his  moral  sense,  to  be  as  his  Master,  and  the  servant  to  be 
as  his  Lord. 

It  will  not  be  amiss  for  certain  writers  who  take  special 
pleasure,  we  fear,  in  holding  forth  the  sins  of  good  men,  to 
ponder   the   following  words :    "  Some  men's   sins  are  open 


OUR    BIBLE.  83 

beforehand,  going  before   to  judgment ;    and  so  nc    they  fol- 
low after." 

David's  imprecations. 

But  was  David  inspired  when  he  uttered  his  impreca- 
tions against  his  enemies  ? — If  those  imprecations,  properly 
understood,  were  contrary  to  the  mind  and  will  of  God, 
"  David's  Lord "  would  not  have  given  his  sanction,  as  he 
did,  to  the  Psalms  as  a  whole.  He  who  wrote  those  impre- 
cal ions  would  not  have  been  permitted  to  say,  "The  Spirit 
of  the  liOrd  spake  by  me,  and  his  word  was  in  my  tongue," 
without  a  cautioning  word  from  him  who  so  explicitly  corrected 
or  qualified  things  which  were  "said  by  them  of  old  time." 
—  As  to  David's  imprecations,  it  may  be  remarked  in  passing, 
they  are  none  of  them,  nor  all  of  them  together,  more  severe 
than  the  imprecation  of  Paul  upon  Alexander  the  copper- 
smith, for  doing  him  much  evil.  In  his  one  brief  sentence, 
he  expresses  all  that  David  meant  and  said,  with  the  same 
motive,  and  in  the  same  spirit. 

But  was  the  writer  of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-seventh 
Psalm,  "  By  the  rivers  of  Babylon,"  inspired,  when  he  placed 
those  words  on  record :  "  Happy  shall  he  be  that  taketh  and 
dasheth  thy  little  ones  against  the  stones  "  ? 

God  had  purposed  to  destroy  Babylon,  root  and  branch. 
Let  us  read  the  preceding  verse :  "  0  daughter  of  Babylon, 
who  art  to  be  destroyed,  happy  shall  he  be  that  rewardeth 
thee  as  thou  hast  served  us."  They  had  seen  their  own  little 
ones  dashed  against  the  stones  by  the  hand  of  Babylon. 
When  men  see  their  wives  and  children  destroyed  before  their 
eyes  by  savages,  and  these  husbands  and  fathers,  afterwards,  in 
war,  take  the  savages  captive  in  their  wigwams,  and  crush  out 
every  life,  in  young  and  old,  they  are  not  justly  chargeable 
with  immorality,  nor  is  the  present  of  a  sword  to  the  leader 


84  OURBIBLE. 

of  the  destroying  band,  as  a  token  of  gratitude,  generally- 
deemed  inconsistent  with  morality.  There  are  exigencies  in 
human  affairs,  there  are  agonies  of  experience,  there  are  St. 
Bartholomew's  days,  there  are  Piedmontese  scenes,  when  all 
the  imprecations  in  the  Avord  of  God  are  necessary,  and  just, 
and  true. 

DISCREPANCIES    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

It  is  said.  There  are  discrepancies  between  the  sacred  his- 
torians i^  their  accounts  of  the  same  events.  For  example, 
one  says,  "  the  thieves  which  were  crucified  with  him  cast  the 
same  in  his  teeth."  Another  says,  that  one  of  the  thieves 
was  penitent,  and  rebuked  his  fellow  for  upbraiding  Jesus. 
The  argument  is.  One  of  the  evangelists,  therefore,  did  not 
speak  correctly ;  at  least  there  is  a  degree  of  carelessness  in 
his  statement,  which  is  inconsistent  with  his  being  inspired. 

This  objection,  so  far  from  disproving  the  inspiration  of  the 
evangelist,  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  truth  that  inspira- 
tion follows  the  common  laws  of  human  speech  and  of  thought. 
Suppose  that  you  were  giving  an  account  of  the  ill  treatment 
which  a  good  man  received  from  a  mob.  After  describing  the 
indignities  which  he  suffered,  you  say  that  he  was  hurried 
away  to  jail.  As  he  passed  through  an  entry  of  the  prison, 
where  two  convicts  of  the  lower  class  were  confined,  the  pris- 
oners hissed  at  him.  Now,  you  are  brought  before  a  court  of 
justice  to  testify  on  this  point.  Did  one  or  both  of  those  pris- 
oners hiss  at  this  man  ?  Your  answer  might  be,  My  object 
in  the  narrative  was  to  show  that  this  good  man  was  hissed 
even  in  prison  ;  I  was  not  giving  evidence  for  or  against  the 
prisoners,  but  was  describing  the  humiliation  of  my  friend. 
It  was  that,  and  not  the  number  of  those  who  were  concerned 
in  the  act,  which  made  its  impression  upon  me,  and  which  I 
sought  3  convey. 


OURBIBLE.  85 

No  one  would  say  that  you  had  been  incorrect  in  your 
statement,  even  should  it  appear  by  the  confession  of  one  of 
the  convicts  that  he  alone  insulted  your  friend.^ 

When  we  read  in  the  newspaper  three  or  four  different 
accounts  of  the  same  thing,  all  varying  in  some  particulars, 
one  giving  more  details  of  one  part  of  the  story,  another 
passing  over  that  part  with  a  general  statement,  and  dwelling 
more  upon  another  part,  we  feel  that  this  is  natural.  Four 
accounts  of  the  same  transaction  about  which  there  was  con- 
troversy, all  drawn  up  with  most  minute  resemblance,  would 
excite  the  suspicion  that  the  writers  had  been  together,  and 
had  agreed  in  their  statements.  Moreover,  of  what  value 
would  such  mere  duplicate  writings  be  ?  But  let  four  men, 
whose  reputations,  and  whose  all,  are  concerned  in  the  trans- 
action, differ  in  certain  things,  while  they  agree  in  the  essen- 
tials of  the  story,  and  we  naturally  say.  If  these  men  were 
rogues,  they  would  have  used  more  carefulness  ;  now,  their 
discrepancies  show  that  they  are  so  much  absorbed  in  the  truth 
and  importance  of  the  things  narrated,  that  they  think  little 
of  the  variations  in  their  stories.  Liars  are  ingeniously  accu- 
rate in  little  things  when  they  compound  a  lie  ;  honest  men 
can  afford  to  differ  in  the  circumstantial  parts  of  a  story. 
When  God  employed  men  to  give  us  the  history  of  the  gospel, 
he  might  have  made  them  coincide  in  the  minutest  things. 
B  jt  where,  then,  would  have  been  the  necessity  or  use  of  more 
accounts  than  one  ?  We  think  that  there  is  divine  wisdom  in 
permitting  the  evangelists  to  differ  in  certain  unessential  things, 
and  at  the  same  time  superintending  and  guiding  them  so  that 
they  should  not  differ  in  any  measure  or  kind,  whereby  their 
credibility  could  be  impaired. 

'  This  particular  discrepancy  respecting  the  two  thieves  may  be  satisfac- 
torily disposed  rf  by  supposing,  with  some,  that  the  penitent  thief,  at  first, 
aiso  reviled  Christ. 

8 


86  OURBIBLE. 

It  is  known  that  the  Books  of  Chronicles  differ,  in  some  im- 
portant respects,  from  the  books  of  the  Kings.  The  question 
is,  Which  are  true  ?  and.  How  can  both  claim  to  be  inspired  ? 
Rationalists  have  made  some  of  their  deadliest  attacks  here. 
—  The  Chronicles  were  not  written  for  the  same  purpose  as 
the  Books  of  the  Kings.  The  "  Kings  "  are  political  history  ; 
Chronicles  are  ecclesiastical :  the  Kings  are  historical  in  their 
design ;  the  Chronicles  didactic,  and  were  written  after  the 
captivity,  are  brought  down  to  the  end  'of  the  exile,  were 
compiled  after  the  time  of  Jeremiah.  The  object  of  the 
writer  seems  to  be  to  inform  the  Hebrews,  returning  from 
captivity,  respecting  their  pedigree,  and  to  clear  the  line  of 
descent  in  which  the  Messiah  was  to  be  born ;  hence  the 
family  of  David  is  particularly  regarded.  Directions  are 
given  as  to  the  restoration  of  divine  worship  ;  the  priests  and 
Levites  are  furnished  with  the  most  careful  genealogies  of 
their  line ;  the  ordering  of  their  appointments  under  David 
and  Solomon  is  specially  given.  In  doing  these  things,  it  was 
not  to  the  writer's  purpose  that  full  histories  of  all  the  kings 
should  occupy  his  pages ;  he  had  accomplished  his  most 
worthy  purposes,  as  here  described,  and  he  sought  to  confirm 
the  piety  of  his  countrymen,  after  their  banishment,  by  dwell- 
ing upon  the  examples  and  the  prosperity  of  good  kings,  and 
the  sins  of  the  nation  which  led  to  its  downfall.  But  because 
the  stream  of  history  in  those  books  does  not  run  into  the 
same  creeks  and  bays  with  that  in  the  Kings,  the  writer  is, 
by  some,  impugned,  and  his  books  are  set  at  nought.  —  But 
there  are  errors,  in  names  and  numbers,  which  cannot  be 
explained.  Copyists  have  here,  no  doubt,  left  proofs  behind 
them  that  they  were  not  inspired.  These  errors  do  not  at 
all  invalidate  the  credibility  of  the  writer;  for,  in  the  most 
palpable  case  of  all,  in  which  a  certain  king  appears,  by  com- 
mutation, to  be  two  years  older  than  his   father,  we  cannot 


OURBIBLE.  87 

impute  so  foollsli  a  thing  to  the  writer  ;  we  see  that  the  record 
has  not  been  kept,  by  a  mu-acle,  from  certain  numerical 
errors. 

AILEOED    IMMODESTY    IN    THE    SCRIPTURES. 

There  are  parts  of  the  Bible  which  we  would  not  choose  to 
read  before  others,  or  to  hear  read.  They  relate  to  things 
which,  it  is  commanded,  should  "  not  be  named  among  you,  as 
becometh  saints."  These  things,  however,  enter  deeply  into 
human  character  and  conduct ;  and  a  revelation  to  man,  as  he 
is,  which  should  omit  to  deal  plainly  and  faithfully  with  regard 
to  these  things,  would  be  deemed  deficient.  As  to  their  dispar- 
agement of  the  Bible  as  the  word  of  God,  a  good  and  suffi- 
cient answer  was  given  by  a  late  distinguished  and  excellent 
civilian  and  Christian,*  who  mentioned  it  himself  to  the  writer. 
Falling  into  rehgious  conversation  with  the  driver  of  a  vehicle 
in  which  he  was  riding,  the  man  objected  to  the  Bible  as  con- 
taining things  which  he  would  be  ashamed  to  read  before  his 
family ;  therefore  he  argued  that  God  could  not  be  its  author. 

Our  friend  asked  him  if  he  would  think  it  proper,  and  would 
be  willing,  to  uncover  his  feet  and  sit  with  them  naked  before 
his  family.  The  man  promptly  said.  No.  "  Then,"  said  our 
friend,  "  God  did  not  make  your  feet !  " 

The  suitableness  of  a  thing  to  be  read  or  rehearsed  on  any 
and  every  occasion,  is  not  the  test  of  its  truth  and  propriety, 
nor  of  its  divine  origin.  Other  uses,  of  vast  importance,  may 
be  effected  by  it.     Some  of  our  laws  cannot  be  read  in  a  family. 

Solomon's  Song  is  the  subject  of  great  animadversion  with 
many,  of  great  difficulty  with  others,  and  indeed  there  are 
few   who   are   not,  in   some  way,  perplexed  by  it.     Several 

♦  Hon.  Simon  Greenleaf,  late  Professor  of  Law,  Harvard  University. 


88  OURBIBLE. 

things  are  to  be  considered.  It  was  in  the  canon  at  the  time 
of  Christ.  Many  things  in  the  original  are  expressed  in  a 
less  literal  manner  than  in  our  translation.  Mixed  society 
did  not  and  does  not  prevail  in  Oriental  countries.  Eastern 
nations  have  not  the  same  modes  and  standards  of  taste  and 
manners  with  people  in  other  latitudes  ;  and  there  is  a  large 
part  of  the  world,  in  those  latitudes,  who  are  yet  to  receive 
the  Bible,  and  who  will  not  adopt  our  modes  of  thought  in  all 
respects.  In  Lane's  "  Modern  Egypt,"  we  have,  perhaps,  the 
best  explanation  of  this  song.  He  himself  tells  us  that  in  lis- 
tening to  the  dervishes,  as  they  sang  their  religious  odes  for 
purely  spiritual  purposes,  though  couched  in  the  language  of 
love,  he  w^as  persuaded  of  the  propriety  and  the  divine  origin 
of  Solomon's  Song,  used  for  the  purposes  for  which  it  was 
designed.  The  most  approved  explanation  of  it  is,  that  it  is 
intended  to  express  the  love  of  the  soul  for  God  ;  and  if  some 
prefer  to  say,  of  the  soul  for  its  Redeemer,  they  are  war- 
ranted in  thus  giving  it  an  application  to  him  who  is  the  al- 
pha and  omega  of  Scripture.  But  after  all  is  said,  this-  is 
true,  —  and  the  remark  will  apply  to  other  parts  of  the  Bible 
besides  this,  —  that  the  diiferent  portions  of  the  Bible  are  not 
all  of  them  of  equal  use  for  edification,  nor  suitable  to  be 
read  by  all  persons  at  all  times.  This  is  but  the  expression 
of  every  reader's  experience,  and  of  his  history  as  a  reader 
of  the  Scriptures.  —  But  when  we  read  the  wholesale  con- 
demnation of  Solomon's  Song  by  some  writers,  we  may  profit- 
ably consider  that  there  is  more  than  one  kind  of  modesty ; 
and  that,  in  professing  much  of  one  sort,  we  should  be  careful 
not  to  make  ourselves  liable  to  the  imputation  of  boldness  and 
effrontery.  For,  when  we  repudiate  that  which  Christ  did  not 
condemn,  and  foi-get  that  there  are  other  latitudes,  not  only  of 
the  earth's  surface,  but  of  Christian  experience,  than  those  in 
which  we  dwell,  w^e  need  to  be  reminded  that  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  prudery  as  well  as  virtue. 


OUR     BIBLE.  89 

There  must  be  mysteries  not  only  in  the  Bible,  but  in  its 
preparation,  if  God  is  the  author  of  it.  Some  things  which 
the  Bible  clearly  exhibits  as  peculiar  to  the  manner  of  its 
composition,  we  cannot  wholly  account  for  to  the  satisfaction 
of  one  another.  We  should  all  have  arranged  some  things 
differentl}',  or  should  have  omitted  some  things,  or  have  said 
less,  or  more,  about  them.  He  who  finds  and  acknowledges 
no  difficulties  in  the  subject  of  inspiration,  has  something  yet 
to  learn.  Far  better  is  it  to  say  to  certain  questions,  "  I  do 
not  know,"  than  to  ask  those  questions  with  a  contemptuous 
feeling,  and  to  hear  such  an  answer  with  an  air  of  triumph. 

Some  tell  us  that  if  we  will  abandon  the  doctrine  of  plen- 
ary inspiration,  all  the  difficulties  on  the  subject  of  inspira- 
tion will  vanish.  They  are  mistaken,  and  in  the  same  ways 
as  when  they  tell  us  that  if  we  will  give  up  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity,  we  shall  have  no  difficulty  with  the  person  and 
character  of  Christ.  But  the  doctrine  of  two  natures  in 
Christ  explains  to  us  all  the  facts  relating  to  him,  which, 
otherwise,  are  greater  mysteries  even  than  the  Trinity.  So 
it  is  with  plenary  inspiration.  The  highest  ground  here  is 
the  easiest  to  maintain. 


DIFFICULTIES    OF    DEISM.  INTERNAL    EVIDENCE. 

Here  is  a  book  composed  of  parts  written  at  various  times 
during  a  period  of  several  thousand  years,  by  about  forty 
men,  of  every  variety  of  tastes,  talents,  and  occupations. 
Yet  the  book  is  one  in  its  purpose  and  influence,  all  parts 
of  it  conspiring  to  confirm,  and  to  fulfil,  one  the  other.  Was 
there  no  guiding,  superintending  influence  from  on  high  di- 
recting the  composition  of  these  books?  Did  men  without 
any  more  divine  aid  than  Cicero,  or  Franklin,  throw  out  these 
wiitings   so   connected    in    their    design    that    tliey   could    be 


90  OURBIBLE. 

gathered  into  one  volume  without  discordance  in  their  state- 
ments, or  discrepancies  in  their  moral  and  religious  opinions  ? 
Then  we  might  believe  that  the  different  parts  of  an  organ 
were  made  at  different  times  during  several  thousand  years, 
1^  men  who  had  no  design  to  make  a  complete  instrument ; 
but  one  made  a  pipe,  another  a  stop,  the  other  a  key,  at  ran- 
dom ;  but  the  keys,  pipes,  and  stops,  being  brought  together, 
were  found  to  be  exactly  fitted  to  each  other  —  the  keys  all 
level,  the  pipes  proportioned  and  voiced,  the  stops  with  their 
couplings ;  and  the  first  time  the  instrument  was  played,  it 
was  in  tune,  and  has  been  so  ever  since. 

Here  is  a  book  Avritten,  in  part,  by  herdsmen  and  fishermen, 
the  parts  which  they  wrote,  as  well  as  the  others  written  by 
kings  and  prophets,  having  a  style  which  belongs  to  no  other 
writings.  There  is  something  in  the  language*  of  the  Bible 
which  affects  every  mind  unlike  any  other  language.  Let  a 
secular  orator  quote  a  passage  of  Scripture  :  what  force  it 
gives  to  speech  !  and  how  entirely  different  is  its  effect,  in 
every  thing,  from  his  own  style,  even  though  he  be  the  most 
eloquent  of  men  !  Xo  wonder  that  the  human  mind,  weighing 
and  pondering  the  words  of  different  writings  claiming  to  be 
inspired,  sifted  out  those  which  were  uninspired,  and  gave,  at 
last,  its  irrevocable  suffrage  to  those  which  we  hold  to  be  of 
divine  origin.  When  we  compare  the  books  of  the  Apocr}- 
pha  1  and  the  Canon,  we  are  not  surprised  that  the  common 
mind  retired  from  such  pastures  and  streams  as  the  "  Wisdom 
of  Solomon  "  and  "  Ecclesiasticus,"  to  the  Book  of  Proverbs 
and  Ecclesiastes.  Indeed,  the  only  way  in  which  it  can  be 
explained  that  some  uninspired  writings  had  power  so  long  to 
maintain  a  place  so  near  the  sacred  Scriptures  is,  that  the 
common  people,  who  have  always  been  the  true  umpires  in 

'  Avoc-RAVJix  —  thinffs  not  made  public,  or  sanctiotied  j  —  from  a  Greek 
word,  to  conceal. 


OURBIBLE.  91 

things  pertaining  to  the  human  conscience  and  heart,  had  not 
had  familiar  possession  and  use  of  the  religious  scriptures. 
Moses  had,  in  every  synagogue,  them  that  read  him  on  the 
Sabbath  days ;  but  the  press  and  Bible  societies  had  not 
given  the  records  of  religion  to  every  one  who  would  reach 
forth  a  hand  to  take  them.  Hence  it  required  longer  time 
for  writings  which,  though  of  good  moral  effect,  were  not 
inspired,  to  find  their  relative  places  in  the  judgments  of  man- 
kind. But  there  must  have  been,  there  must  be,  an  invincible 
conviction  in  the  minds  of  men  with  regard  to  a  supernatural- 
ness  in  certain  writings,  that  other  writings,  equally  good  in 
their  purpose,  and  as  unexceptionable  in  their  effect,  were 
entirely  set  aside,  and  became  discredited.  This  is  a  strong 
proof  of  the  supernatural  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures.  For 
if,  as  some  say,  every  thing  wise  and  good  is  inspired,  we 
cannot  account  for  it  that  large  passages  by  the  Son  of  Sirach, 
for  example,  should  have  been  rejected  by  the  concurrent 
feelings  of  believers,  not  long  after  they  were  written,  as  not 
worthy  to  be  ranked  with  other  writings  whose  authors  were, 
nevertheless,  men  of  like  passions  with  their  contemporaries. 
If  the  intrinsic  goodness  and  truthfulness  of  a  writing  consti- 
tutes inspiration,  we  cannot  account  for  the  place  which  the 
sacred  Scriptures  have  taken  and  held,  invested  as  they  are 
with  a  sanctity  which  no  Paradise  Lost,  or  Pilgrim's  Progress, 
or  Olney  Hymns  of  Cowper  and  Newton,  have  been  able  to 
acquire. 

JEALOUSY    OF    OUR    REVERENCE    FOR    THE    BIBLE. 

But  there  are  those  who  are  jealous  of  this  sanctity ;  and 
they  regard  it  and  speak  of  it  as  an  unenlightened  superstition. 
There  is  too  much  blind  reverence,  they  think  and  say,  for 
the  Bible.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  best  of  books  ;  but  they 
pray  us  to  be  more  discriminating  in  speaking  of  it,  and  not 


92  OURBIBLE. 

to  let  our  feelings  towards  it  approach  so  near  to  worship,  that 
we  cannot  endure  to  have  it  spoken  of  as  sharing  in  the 
infirmities  of  all  things  of  human  mould.  They  say,  We  truly 
wish  that  the  Bible  were  an  infallible  guide,  it  would  be  so 
comforting  and  safe  to  feel  that  every  thing  in  its  pages  is 
infallibly  right  and  true.  But  alas  !  the  discrepancies  of  the 
writers,  and  the  errors  of  copyists,  the  mutilation  of  texts,  and 
"  the  hundred  thousand  various  readings,"  make  it  appear  no 
less  than  presumption,  if  not  effrontery,  or,  to  say  the  least,  it 
is  fanaticism,  to  claim  infaUibility  for  such  a  book. 

We  reply  to  them  that  every  thing  which  is  essential  to 
the  knowledge  of  God  and  salvation  is  essentially  the  same  in 
the  earliest  and  the  latest  copies  of  the  Scriptures.  Errors 
of  translation,  and  mistakes  of  copyists,  and  it  may  be,  here 
and  there,  fraud,  have  marred  the  literal  accuracy  of  the 
original  in  places  some  of  which  are  greatly  disputed,  and 
others  are  generally  acknowledged  to  be  wrong. 

We  are  asked,  Is  all  which  is  within  the  covers  of  the 
Bible  inspired  ?  Is  that  book,  in  the  sense  of  every  thing 
which  it  contains,  "  the  word  of  God  "  ?  They  who  ask  such 
questions  are,  some  of  them,  well  acquainted  with  the  discus- 
sions on  the  subject  of  "  Personal  Identity."  How  far  may  a 
house  be  altered,  even  allowing  it  is  for  the  worse,  and  yet  be 
the  same  house  ?  or,  May  a  vehicle  be  honestly  sold  as  the 
manufacture  of  a  distinguished  builder,  when  a  new  and 
crooked  spoke  has  been  inserted  by  another  hand,  or  a  bolt 
with  a  head  not  uniform  with  the  other  bolts ;  or  a  lost  curtain 
has  been  replaced  by  another  maker  ? 

We  would  none  of  us  feel  unwilling  to  buy  a  "  Guido  "  or 
a  "  Titian,"  for  knowing  that  a  mutilated  finger  has  been 
painted  with  a  modern  brush.  But,  Is  that  a  real  "  Titian," 
one  may  say,  with  its  mutilation  ?  Here  is  the  written 
evidence  ;  the  authenticity  is  capable  of  demonstration ;  the 


OURBIBLE.  93 

changes  in  the  piece  are  all  manifest  to  a  practised  eye  ;  the 
picture,  with  all  its  injuries,  is  a  "  Titian  ;  "  and,  with  far  less 
essential  damage  than  such  a  picture  is  supposed  to  have 
received,  the  Bible  is,  in  the  same  sense,  ^he  same  identical 
"  word  of  God  "  as  it  was  from  the  beginning.  We  maintain 
this  on  those  principles  of  personal  identity  which  are  every 
where  received  and  acted  upon  by  mankind.  Assertions  to 
the  contrary  have  been  abundantly  refuted  by  biblical  critics, 
who  have  patiently  taken  up  and  examined  each  case  in  which 
the  text  of  Scripture  has  received  injury.  Let  no  believer  in 
the  plenai-y  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  especially  let  not  young 
men,  (who  are  prone  to  regard  such  appeals,)  be  afraid,  when 
the  inspiration  of  the  Bible  is  assailed  by  those  who  make 
claims  to  freedom  from  credulity.  In  examining  their  writ- 
ings during  the  preparation  of  these  pages,  the  impression  has 
been  deepened  that  none  are  less  free  from  credulity  than  they. 
While  they  promise  you  liberty,  they  themselves  show  that 
there  is  a  fanaticism  of  unbelief,  which  is  not  equalled  by  any 
alleged  superstitions  which  they  so  much  dread. 

We  have  reason  to  complain  of  some  who  profess  to  have  a 
high  regard  for  the  Bible,  and  yet  endeavor  to  lessen  the  pop- 
ular reverence  for  the  book.  We  look  upon  them  as  the  very 
worst  enemies  which  the  Bible  has  ever  had  to  encounter  ;  for 
they  make  great  protestations  of  regard  for  the  Bible,  only 
tliey  '  would  not  have  the  people  receive  it  with  such  awe  and 
idolatrous  reverence.'  But  they  well  know  that  the  line  be- 
tween faith  and  superstition  in  every  human  mind  is  movable, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  fix  it ;  that  reverence  lies  hard  on  the 
border  of  enthusiasm,  and  no  philosopher,  certainly  no  philan- 
thropist, will  venture  to  prescribe  the  demarcation.  Sometimes 
we  feel  towards  such  men  as  a  child  would  feel  towards  an 
apparently  friendly  man  who  should  say,  "  I  would  not  have 
you  abate  any  thing  of  your  reasonable  love  for  your  father's 


94  OURBIBLE. 

or  mother's  memory;  but  be  truthful  and  discriminating  in 
your  judgment  of  their  character:  you  may  not  be  aware 
that  some  who  knew  them  best  perceived  that  they  had  their 
faiHngs  ;  indeed,  in  an  acquaintance  with  them  of  fifty  years, 
several  candid  persons,  who  really  loved  and  respected  your 
parents,  saw  evidences  of  human  imperfection  in  them,  and  were 
led  to  say.  Are  these  persons  really  such  saints  as  their  pious 
children  regard  them  ?  Are  they  worthy  of  all  this  indiscrim- 
inate —  ?  "  But  a  child's  agony  would  by  this  time  be  more 
tlian  his  civility  could  control,  and  this  imitator  of  him,  who, 
in  paradise,  was  found,  "  like  a  toad,"  at  the  ear  of  Eve,  and 
poisoned  her  dreams,  would,  in  some  cases,  receive,  and  in 
all  cases  would  richly  merit,  summary  leave  to  depart.  The 
illustration  will  not  hold  good  in  every  particular ;  for  we  do 
not  admit  that  the  Bible  is  intrinsically  imperfect,  —  in  the 
same  sense  that  the  best  of  men  are  imperfect.  "  I  know," 
says  the  child  to  himself,  "  that  my  parents  walked  be- 
fore me  in  uprightness ;  they  were  honest,  virtuous,  sincere, 
without  guile,  generous,  unsuspicious ;  but  withal,  they  met 
with  tribulation,  and  injuries  from  open  foes  and  pretended 
friends ;  without  a  constant  miracle,  they  could  not  have 
passed  through  such  things,  m  such  a  world  as  this,  without 
contracting  some  injury." 

So  we  feel  towards  the  word  of  God.  In  such  a  world  as 
this,  and  with  such  fearful  treatment  as  it  has  met  with,  noth- 
ing but  a  standing  miracle  could  have  preserved  the  Bible 
from  certain  injuries.  It  is  an  interesting  question.  How 
far  shall  He  who  does  not  interpose  to  prevent  fire  from  burn- 
ing the  flesh  of  a  good  man,  work  a  constant  miracle,  to  keep 
a  book,  transcribed,  translated,  so  many  times  as  the  Bible  has 
been,  from  mutilation  ?  It  is  injured  enough  to  vindicate  the 
one  great  impartial  law  of  providence  towards  the  evil  and 
the  good ;  it  is  not  injured  so  as  to  affect,  in  the  least  degree, 


OURBIBLE.  95 

its  credibility.  The  injuries  which  it  has  received  are  far 
less,  in  every  sense,  than  some  would  make  us  feel  them  to  be. 
As  it  regards  their  spiritual  effect,  they  are  no  more  than  the 
tarnish  which  may  have  happened  to  the  ark  of  the  covenant, 
the  mildew  which  gathered  upon  the  folded  curtains  of  the 
tabernacle  in  its  removal  from  place  to  place,  or  the  dust  and 
cobwebs  which  may  have  eluded  the  Levite's  eye  and  care  on 
the  wangs  of  the  cherubim.  Take  the  Bible  to  a  sick  bed, 
to  a  funeral,  to  the  cell  of  the  condemned  ;  open  it  in  the  fam- 
ily, in  the  place  of  secret  prayer,  at  an  ordination,  a  social 
gathering,  or  where  two  or  three  are  met  in  Christ's  name  ; 
and  what  listener  or  reader  will  be  made  to  feel  that  it  is 
any  less  the  word  of  God,  to  the  conscience  and  heart,  than 
though  the  original  manuscripts  of  the  Bible  were  produced  ? 
And  yet  there  are,  by  actual  count,  as  Kinnicott  and  De  Rossi 
tell  us,  more  than  eight  hundred  thousand  various  readings 
as  to  the  Hebrew  consonants,  in  different  copies  of  the  He- 
brew Scriptures.  But  they  are  generally  of  no  more  impor- 
tance than  our  different  spellings  of  Mohammed,  Mahomet,  and 
Muhamet.  There  is  not  a  doctrine,  nor  a  moral  precept,  in  the 
Bible  which  is  in  the  least  obscured  by  any  of  the  casualties 
to  which  the  text  of  Scripture  has  been  subjected  ;  no,  not 
one.  Though  numerical  mistakes  occur  which  it  is  hard  to 
explain,  and  dates  are  confused,  and  names  appear,  in  geneal- 
ogies, in  seeming  contradiction,  to  statements  elsewhere,  yet 
the  moral  impression  of  every  narrative  is  uninjured.  We 
might  challenge  the  host  of  ancient  and  modern  unbeliev- 
ers to  produce  a  single  instance  in  refutation  of  this  statement. 
All  the  loud  warnings,  therefore,  against  corruptions  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  all  the  sleek  words  of  seeming  candor,  praying  for 
more  discrimination  in  our  judgments  of  the  word  of  God, 
are  not  warranted  by  any  real  harm  which  the  sacred  text  has 
suffered. 


96  OUR    BIBLE. 

It  deserves  to  be  said  to  all  who  seek  to  impair  the  enthusi- 
astic love  of  the  people  for  their  Bible,  that  they  are  the  worst 
enemies  of  mankind.  Who  are  more  so?  The  men  who 
corrupt  the  word  of  God  by  their  folse  doctrines  and  inven- 
tions, may  still  leave  that  word  to  have  its  proper  effect  upon 
the  conscience  and  heart.  But  he  who  by  any  means  weak- 
ens the  authority  of  the  Bible,  as  a  supernatural  revelation, 
takes  a  risk  for  which  no  reflecting  person  would  be  the  un- 
derwriter for  the  wealth  of  the  world. 

What  possible  good  these  men  really  believe  that  they  ac- 
complish, it  is  hard  to  say.  It  may  truly  be  said  of  them  to 
the  humble,  devout  believers,  ''  There  be  some  that  trouble 
you."  They  love  to  arrest  a  cup  of  cold  water  on  its  way  to 
a  thirsty  soul,  and  compel  us  to  look  through  their  microscope, 
and  see  the  animalcules  which  seem  to  make  the  element  alive. 
"  And  now,"  they  seem  to  say,  "  you  will  drink  with  some 
scientific  knowledge  of  what  you  are  about  to  swallow. 
Knowledge  is  never  hurtful ;  ignorance  is  not  the  mother 
of  devotion  ;  always  remember  when  you  drink  that  there  is 
no  such  thing  as  pure  water."  If  we  remonstrate  at  this, 
then  we  are  "  bigoted,"  "  illiberal,"  "  enemies  of  science ;  " 
we  "  cherish  ignorance,"  we  "  foster  a  blind  attachment  to  old 
things." 

Let  us  suppose  that  some  speculative,  experimenting,  or 
malevolent,  or  trifling  hand  could  disturb  that  mysterious 
power  of  magnetism  which  resides  in  the  north.  And  now 
the  needles  of  all  the  compasses  are  false  guides ;  every  mari- 
ner in  the  dark,  watching,  by  the  light  in  his  binnacle,  the 
httle  trembling  finger  ordained  by  a  benevolent  God  to  guide 
him  over  the  deep,  sails  wrong ;  and  in  the  morning  Old  Kin- 
sale  is  heaped  up  with  wrecks  ;  the  Bahama  reefs  have 
caught  the  keels  of  a  fleet ;  many  find  themselves  in  strange 
ports,  far  off  from  their  destined  places ;   the  explorers,  the 


OUR    BIBLE.  97 

surveyors  on  land,  are  all  at  fault ;  a  vane  cannot  be  set,  nor 
a  sundial ;  property,  happiness,  life,  beyond  computation,  are 
sacrificed.  All  this  would  be  less  than  the  mischief  of  dis- 
turbing the  power  which  the  Bible  has  upon  the  hearts  and 
minds  of  our  fellow-men.  A  man  had  better  be  in  his  grave 
than  to  make  men  lose  their  implicit  faith  in  the  Bible.  Call 
it  "  scholarship,"  "  literary  acumen,"  "  discrimination,"  "  hatred 
of  superstition,"  or  by  any  other  plausible  name,  —  it  is,  in  ef- 
fect, cruelty ;  it  carries  desolation  to  the  interests  of  men  farther 
than  any  other  form  of  infidelity.  Every  periodical,  or  col- 
umn of  a  newspaper,  or  pamphlet,  which  professes  to  cast  an 
honest  doubt  upon  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  ought  to  be 
compassed  round  with  heavy  black  lines ;  the  writer  or  speak- 
er should  bow  down  heavily,  as  one  that  mourneth  for  his 
mother  ;  his  words  should  falter  on  his  tongue  ;  his  lips  should 
quiver  ;  "  I  am  sent  to  thee  with  heavy  tidings,"  should  be  his 
preface  and  his  peroration.  Instead  of  this,  what  do  we  find  ? 
Sarcasm,  ridicule,  insinuations,  a  titter,  pity,  a  sneer,  wonder, 
amazement,  at  the  intrepidity,  or  weakness,  of  those  who  will 
persist  to  regard  the  Bible,  the  whole  Bible,  as  the  word  of 
God.  This  is  the  shape  in  which  deism  is  now  showing  itself 
among  us.  The  battle  was  formerly  on  questions  of  interpre- 
tation. Every  proof  text  of  every  great  doctrine  of  the  Bi- 
ble, especially  such  as  relate  to  the  deity  of  Christ,  has  been 
disputed.  Some  of  them,  and  the  attempts  to  destroy  them, 
make  one  think  of  noble  hawsers  and  chain  cables  bearing 
the  marks  of  teeth  which  nibbled  where  it  was  hard  to  bite. 
But  the  supreme  deity  of  Christ,  and  its  kindred  doctrines, 
maintain  their  hold  upon  the  understanding  and  heart ;  and 
the  most  effectual  way  to  impair  them  would,  certainly,  now  be, 
to  cast  suspicion  on  the  book  which  seems  to  teach  these  doc- 
trmes.  Give  us  liberty  to  regard  the  Bible  as  imperfectly  in- 
spired, and  our  own  tastes  and  our  various  dispo;^ition  to  believe 

9 


98  OUR    BIBLE. 

TN'ill  dictate  what  doctrines,  or  precepts,  we  shall  regard  as  of 
divine  autliority.  And  thus,  every  man  will  make  his  own 
Bible,  as  every  heathen  has  his  own  little  god.  If  one  ever 
hears  a  religious  teacher  throw  doubts  upon  the  supreme  au- 
thority of  the  Scriptures,  or  detract  from  their  plenary  inspira- 
tion, he  should  give  no  sleep  to  his  eyes  or  slumber  to  his 
eyelids,  but  deliver  himself  as  a  roe  from  the  hunter,  and  a^ 
a  bird  from  the  hand  of  the  fowler.  Once  admit  thav  ihe 
Bible  is  any  thing  less  than  "  the  word  of  God,"  and  the  voice 
of  God  no  longer  speaks  to  the  conscience  authoritatively 
from  its  pages ;  but  men,  fallible  while  they  wrote,  have 
merely  given  us  their  best  recollections  and  impressions. 

CONFESSION  AND  TESTIMONY  OF  THE  JEWS  TO    THEIR  BIBLE. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  things  in  regard  to  the  Bible 
is  this  —  that  while  the  Old  Testament  is  to  a  great  extent  a 
record  of  the  sins  and  follies  of  the  Jewish  nation,  setting 
them  forth  in  the  most  odious  light,  as  a  nation  of  fickle,  un- 
grateful rebels  against  God,  the  Jews  regard  the  Old  Testa- 
ment with  little  less  than  absolute  worship.  Here  is  a  singu- 
lar spectacle  —  a  whole  nation  binding  to  them,  and  wearing,  as 
a  diadem  of  glory,  a  book  which  exposes  their  sins  and  chas- 
tisements before  all  nations.  Were  they  a  humble,  pious 
nation,  we  might  account  for  this  from  their  humility  and 
godly  sorrow.  But  they  are  proud  and  scornful  towards  all 
other  people.  Yet  they  had  kept  the  Old  Testament  so  pure 
that  Christ  did  not  reprove  them  for  making  the  least  altera- 
tion in  their  sacred  canon,  nor  in  the  text  of  Scripture ;  and 
to  this  day  their  Bible  is  their  glory  and  joy.  It  is  not  usual 
for  men  to  prize  so  highly  the  indictments  which  are  found 
against  them.  If  the  Bible  were  ordinary  histories  by  un- 
inspired men,  like  the  histories  by  Herodotus   or  Josephus,  it 


OURBIBLE.  99 

could  not  have  acquired  such  sanctity,  and  have  kept  it  for  so 
many  centuries.  He  who  says  that  the  Bible  was  written,  like 
all  other  books,  with  no  supernatural  aid  and  guidance,  or 
superintendence,  does  not  account  for  this  prodigy. 

The  Pharisees  were  the  Romanists,  and  the  Sadducees 
were  the  Protestants,  of  their  day,  with  regard  to  the  Scrip- 
tures. The  two  sects  originated  soon  after  the  return  from 
the  captivity,  the  Pharisees  being  in  favor  of  traditionary  ad- 
ditions to  the  word  of  God,  and  the  Sadducees  being  their 
opponents,  not  chiefly  on  the  question  of  "  angel  or  spirit,"  but, 
on  the  subject  of  the  corruptions  of  Scripture.  We  have  m 
this  a  strong  warrant  for  believing  that  the  canon  and  text  of 
Scripture  were  watched  with  jealous  care. 

"all  scripture  given  by  inspiration  of  god." 

In  the  original,  this  verse  reads  as  follows :  "  All  Scripture 
given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  profitable  for  doctrine,  for 
reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness ;  that 
the  man  of  God  may  be  thoroughly  furnished  to  every  good 
work." 

The  word,  is,  in  the  first  two  lines,  is  not  in  the  Greek.  The 
reader  of  the  English  Bible  can  readily  find  many  a  case 
where  the  word,  is,  is  Italicized,  showing  that  it  does  not  occur 
in  the  original,  but  is  supplied  by  the  translator.  Now,  the 
question  arises,  whether  it  is  to  be  supplied  in  this  case ;  if 
not,  how  shall  the  verse  be  rendered  ? 

Some  eminent  scholars  render  it  thus :  "  All  Scripture 
given  by  inspiration  of  God  is  also  profitable,"  &c.  The, 
learned  Greek  scholar.  Bishop  Middleton,  says,  that  the  Greek 
word,  cmd,  does  not  allow  of  this  rendering.  The  more  com- 
mon way  of  rendering  the  passage  is  that  adopted  in  the  Eng- 
lish Bible,  supplying  the  word  is,  in  two  places.     "  All  Scrip- 


100  OUR    BIBLE. 

ture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable,"  &c. 
Professor  Stuart  says,  "  all  Scripture "  here  means,  in  the 
original,  every  constituent  part  or  portion  of  the  Scriptures. 
The  famous  De  AVette,  the  foe  of  supernaturalism,  says  of  the 
word  theupneustos,  (translated,  —  "  given  by  inspiration  of 
Q-od,")  — "  here  it  means  inspired,  durchgeistet,  i.  e.,  animated 
through  and  through  by  the  Spirit ;  geistvoll,  i.  e.,  full  of  the 
Spirit."  Looking  back,  we  find  that  Paul  had  been  speak- 
ing to  Timothy  of  "  the  Holy  Scriptures,"  which  "  from  a 
child  "  he  had  known-;  of  these  he  speaks  when  he  says,  "  All 
Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God."  Such,  in  Paul's 
view,  was  the  Old  Testament,  with  all  the  books  which  it 
now  contains. 

INCIDENTAL    EXPRESSIONS. 

"  TJie  Scripture  cannot  he  hrohen." 

Such  is  the  declaration  of  Christ.  It  is  a  hard  saying  for 
some  of  his  readers.  Oftentimes  an  incidental  remark  has  as 
much  power  as  a  labored  argument.  It  would  not  be  possible 
to  add  any  thing  to  the  effect  of  these  few  words  of  Christ. 
He  here  propounds  a  general  truth  ;  he  declares  that  what- 
ever was  within  those  parchment  rolls  on  which  their  Scrip- 
tures were  recorded,  was  incapable  of  refutation,  and  left  no 
room  for  doubt  or  cavil. 

"  Doth  God  take  care  for  oxen  ?  or  saith  He  it  altogether 
for  our  sakes  ?  " 

Here  it  is  implied  that  it  was  God  who  spoke  in  the  law  of 
Moses. 

"  Searching  what  or  what  manner  of  time  the  Spirit  which 
was  in  them  did  signify,'^  Sec. 

Here  we  see  men,  under  a  supernatural  guidance,  endeav- 
oring to  find  out  the  meaning,  in  some  particulars,  of  that 


OUR    BIBLE.  101 

which  thej  themselves  had  uttered  !  "  Unto  whom  it  was 
revealed  that  not  unto  themselves,  but  unto  us,  they  did  min- 
ister the  things  which  are  now  reported  unto  you,"  &c. 

"  Had  ye  believed  Moses,  ye  would  have  believed  me,  for  he 
wrote  of  me.  But  if  ye  believe  not  his  sayings,  how  shall  ye 
believe  my  words  ?  " 

We  have  here  an  indorsement  of  Moses  from  the  Saviour's 
own  lips  !  "  He  wrote  of  me"  Christ  is  in  the  pentateuch, 
therefore.  Some  cannot  find  him  there.  They  need  the 
disciples'  walk  to  Emmaus,  in  which  Jesus,  "beginning  at 
Moses  and  all  the  prophets,  expounded  to  them  in  all  the 
Scriptures  the  things  concerning  himself." 

"  They  have  Moses  and  the  prophets  ;  let  them  hear  them.^^ 
So  spake  Abraham  to  the  rich  man  "in  torment."     Moses 
and  the  prophets  are  all  sufficient,  if  obeyed,  to  save  a  soul 
from  future  punishment ;  and  their  testimony  is  suclx  that  one 
reappearing  from  the  dead  could  add  to  it  nothing  effectual. 

"  We  have  a  more  sure  ward  of  prophecy.'^ 

This  is  the  assertion,  respecting  the  Old  Testament,  of  the 
apostle  Peter,  who  is  here  giving  precedence  to  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, as  a  guide,  in  comparison  Ayith  a,ll  that  he  saw  in  the 
holy  mount. 

But  these  will  serve  for  a  specimen  of  the  ways  in  which 
the  inspiration  of  the  Bible  is  continually  taken  for  granted, 
or  asserted,  by  the  various  writers.  And  yet  some  say  that  we 
set  up  claims  for  the  Bible  which  it  does  not  make  for  itself. 
If  the  attentive  reader  will  examine  any  Epistle,  for  example, 
or  one  of  the  Gospels,  he  will  be  surprised  to  find  how  often 
the  divine  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  is  brought  to  view. 
9* 


102  OUR    BIBLE. 

PRETERNATURAL    POWER    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

The  picture  galleries  of  the  old  world  are  full  of  Scripture 
scenes.  The  works  of  the  great  masters  are  scriptural  sub- 
jects. Those  fishermen,  those  humble  "reporters  and  note 
takers,"  as  they  are  called,  those  careless,  unaided  evange- 
lists, and  the  writer  of  the  Acts,  have  touched  the  genius  of 
Raphael  and  Rubens.  One  of  the  greatest  evidences  of  power 
is  to  awaken  great  conceptions  in  other  minds.  None  have 
done  so  much  for  the  fine  arts  as  the  writers  of  the  Bible. 
One  cannot  believe  that  they  were  "  unaided  stenographers," 
without  risking  his  literary  reputation. 

The  books  which  the  Bible  has  caused  to  be  written  are  evi- 
dences of  its  being  supernaturally  inspired. 

The  Paradise  Lost  and  Pilgrim's  Progress  could  not  have 
been  written  but  for  the  Bible.  The  literature  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, —  the  books  which  have  been  written  to  illustrate  its  lan- 
guage and  history,  as  well  as  its  doctrines,  is  of  astonishing 
extent.  In  the  library  of  a  Theological  Seminary  containing, 
perhaps,  fifteen  thousand  volumes,  as  one  looks  round  on  the 
array  of  learning  and  talent  and  remembers  that  the  Bible 
gave  existence  to  the  greater  part  of  it,  he  is  impressed  with 
the  thought  that  such  a  book  is  wholly  different  from  any 
which  men  wrote,  or  could  have  written,  from  their  own  sug- 
gestion. We  understand  the  secret  of  its  prolific  power  by 
reading  such  passages  as  these  :  — 

"  The  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  face  to  face,  as  a  man  sj  eak- 
eth  unto  his  friend." 

"  And  Moses  wrote  all  the  words  of  the  Lord." 

"  After  the  death  of  Moses,  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  it  came 
to  pass  that  the  Lord  spake  unto  Joshua." 

"  When  the  Lord  raised  them  up  judges,  then  the  Lord  was 
with  the  judge." 


OUR    BIBLE  .  103 

"  The  Lord  revealed  himself  to  Samuel." 
"  The  Lord  answered  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind." 
"  David,  the  son  of  Jesse,  said,  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  spake 
by  me,  and  his  word  was  on  my  tongue.     The  God  of  Israel 
said,  the  Rock  of  Israel  spake  to  me." 

'•  Well  spake  the  Holy  Ghost  by  the  mouth  of  Esaias." 
"  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  expressly  unto  Ezekiel." 
"The  word  of  the   Lord  came  unto   Hosea,  Joel,   Amos, 
Micah." 

"  God  hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  his  holy  prophets 
since  the  world  began." 

Remembering  that  the  New  Testament  records  the  fulfil- 
ment of  prophecies,  in  which  the  truth  of  God  is  involved,  we 
perceive  that  such  a  record  could  not  be  permitted  to  be  made 
carelessly,  and  without  divine  superintendence.  Tlierefore 
Christ  said  to  the  writers,  "  The  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy 
Ghost,  shall  be  in  you,"  and  "  will  guide  you  into  all  truth." 
"  He  shall  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever 
I  have  said  unto  you."  Surely,  then,  we  must  write  upon  our 
Bible  the  words  of  John  in  the  Revelation  :  "  These  are  the 
true  sayings  of  God^ 

An  argument  for  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible  may  be  founded 
on  the  actual  place  which  the  Scriptures  have  obtained.  For 
eighteen  hundred  years,  at  least,  they  have  been  the  only  guide 
of  generations  to  heaven.  All  which  they  have  known  of  God, 
and  truth,  and  duty,  and  future  retribution,  and  the  way  to  be 
saved,  they  have  derived  from  the  Bible.  So  it  will  be  till  the 
end  of  time.  May  we  not  confidently  say  that  a  book  which 
God  foresaw,  to  say  the  least,  would  thus  affect  the  destinies 
of  millions,  would  not  have  been  permitted  to  reach  the  place 
which  it  has  obtained,  unless  it  had  his  sanction,  and  was  sub- 
stantially that  which  men  take  it  to  be  —  The  Word  of  God  ? 
Some   one   asked  Joanna  Baillie  and  Dr.    Lushington,  when 


104  OUR     BIBLE. 

they  were  together,  "  Do  you  believe  in  special  providence?" 
"Yes,"  said  one  of  them,  "on  great  occasions."  —  Even  they 
could  have  found  such  an  '  occasion  '  for  divine  interposition,  in 
the  history  of  the  Bible. 


THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Our  present  English  version  of  the  Bible  was  made  by 
order  of  King  James  of  England,  and  was  completed  in  1611. 
Forty-seven  of  the  best  scholars  and  divines  were  employed. 
They  were  divided  into  six  companies,  varying  from  seyen  to 
ten  men  in  each.  The  eighth  rule  prescribed  by  the  king  was, 
that  every  man  of  each  company  should  take  the  same  chap- 
ter, or  chapters,  and  having  translated  them,  "all  to  meet  to- 
gether, to  confer  what  they  have  done,  and  agree  for  their 
part  what  shall  stand."  The  result  was,  that  every  part  of 
the  Bible  was  considered,  first,  by  each  of  the  translators  in 
the  company  to  which  that  portion  was  assigned  :  then,  by 
that  company  revising  the  work  of  each  of  their  number ; 
then,  by  every  one  of  the  six  companies,  each  company  re- 
vising the  doings  of  all  the  rest ;  and  finally,  by  a  committee 
of  revision,  consisting  of  the  chief  persons  of  all  the  companies. 
There  being  six  companies,  each  composed  of  from  seven  to 
ten  men,  it  follows  that  each  part  of  their  work  was  examined 
at  least  fourteen  times,  many  parts  fifteen,  and  some  seven- 
teen times.  These  men  were  eminently  good,  as  well  as  thor- 
oughly versed  in  Hebrew  and  Greek  ;  i  and  we  have,  in  the 
English  tongue,  a  version  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  which  comes 
as  near  to  the  mind  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  can  be  expected  in 

*  See  an  interesting  and  valuable  little  work,  •'  The  Translators  Revixed,^ 
by  Rev.  A.  W.  McLure,  D.  D.  New  York  :  Charles  Scribner.  Also,  "  The 
Mine  Explored:  A  Help  to  the  Reading  of  the  Bible,"  American  Sunday 
School  Union. 


OUR     BIBLE.  105 

a  translation.  "When  we  think  of  the  past  influence  of  the  Bible 
on  those  who  use  the  English  tongue,  —  while  some  even  ven- 
ture to  predict  that  this  is  to  prevail  greatly  over  other  tongues, 
we  cannot  doubt  that,  as  the  Bible  is  the  gift  of  God,  he  would 
have  specially  directed  the  translation  of  it  into  a  language 
which  was  to  bear  his  messages  to  such  a  portion  of  the  human 
family.     Its  influence  on  the  language  itself  is  wonderful. 

INSPIRATION    AND    ORTHODOXY. 

We  shall  not  continue  to  believe  in  the  deity  of  Christ,  and 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  nor  in  the  system  of  truth  associated  with 
a  belief  in  their  deity,  unless  we  believe  in  the  divine  and  plen- 
ary inspiration  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  A  belief  in  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity  is  generally  accompanied  with  an  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  Bible  as  wholly  inspired ;  and  the 
rejection  of  the  plenary  inspiration  of  the  Bible  is  generally 
followed  by  a  disbelief  of  the  Trinity.  Just  before  the  walls 
of  Jerusalem  were  carried  by  the  Roman  arms,  it  is  said 
that  a  voice  was  heard  in  the  Holy  of  Holies,  saying,  "  Let  us 
go  hence."  Begin  to  invade  the  defences  which  a  belief  in 
the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  throws  around  the  Bible,  and 
the  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit  will,  in  effect,  say.  Let  us  go 
hence.  We  may  search  for  them  with  all  candor  and  supposed 
willingness  to  believe,  but  we  shall  not  find  them  there. 

There  are,  in  some  minds,  honest  doubts  respecting  the  gen- 
uineness of  particular  books,  or  portions  of  books.  But  this, 
and  all  the  questions  which  may  divide  good  men,  are  differ- 
ent from  recognizing  no  inspired  revelation,  or  from  rejecting 
the  Bible  as  being  the  word  of  God. 

There  is  no  certain  foothold  for  faith  the  moment  that  we 
abandon  a  belief  in  the  plenary  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures. 
Unless  we  admit  that,  in  composing  the  Bible,  the  writers 
were  specially  aided,  guided,  superintended  by  God,  so   that 


106  OUR     BIBLE. 

the  Scriptures  are  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  of  supreme  au- 
thority, of  essential  accuracy,  —  unless  we  have  a  tribunal  before 
which  reason  must  bow  implicitly,  and,  judging  by  the  ordina- 
ry proofs  that  a  thing  is  revealed,  receive  the  revelation  with- 
out cavil,  —  we  are  at  once  without  any  safe  guide  to  faith  or 
practice  ;  we  may  believe  any  thing  or  nothing,  as  our  de- 
praved and  deceitful  hearts  may  choose.  If  a  certain  illus- 
tration does  not  happen  to  suit  our  taste,  —  "  The  writer  was  an 
uninspired  man,  and  followed  the  suggestions  of  his  own  fan- 
cy." Does  an  argument  press  us  too  closely,  —  "  Great  allow- 
ance must  be  made  for  Oriental  exaggeration."  Is  a  certain 
truth  inconsistent  with  our  wishes,  —  "  Our  reason  is  as  com- 
petent as  that  of  Matthew  or  Peter."  Is  an  assertion  of  Christ 
too  solemn,  too  fearful,  —  "  Mark  may  have  taken  notes  inac- 
curately, or  lost  some  of  them,  or  copied  them  wrong."  Where 
are  we,  then  ?  What  a  wild,  dark,  howling  ocean  is  around 
us  !  no  sun,  no  star ;  the  chart  —  who  knows  if  it  be  all  true  ? 
The  very  place  upon  it  where  my  all  is  at  stake,  may  be  ut 
terly  erroneous ;  and  as  for  the  needle,  it  never  had  plenary 
magnetism  ;  and  if  it  had,  the  compass  has  been  tampered 
with  by  so  many  ignorant  hands  that  it  cannot  traverse.  Here 
we  are  on  the  sea  of  time,  driving  out  upon  the  ocean  of  eter- 
nity ;  and  where  we  shall  arrive  God  only  knows.  Has  God 
sent  me  out  upon  this  tremendous  voyage,  laden  with  that 
for  which  a  world  might  not  be  given  in  exchange,  and  end- 
less consequences  depending  on*  my  safe  arrival,  and  yet  has 
he  provided  me  with  nothing  but  my  poor  reason,  which  never 
went  on  such  a  voyage  before  ?  We  have  been  accustomed 
to  believe  in  the  benevolence  of  God  to  his  creatures  ;  but  what 
do  I  need  more  than  a  perfect,  unerring  revelation  of  his  will  ? 
And  see  !  the  ocean  is  white  with  sails,  all  of  them  tossed,  and 
not  comforted.  O,  send  us  a  chart  whose  delineations  shall  be 
authentic,  a  compass  whose  needle  shall,  by  its  true  magnetic 


OUR     BIBLE.  107 

power,  be  like  the  voice  of  God  to  my  ship,  "  This  is  the 
way  ;  walk  ye  therein." 

Blessed  be  God,  we,  who  believe  in  the  plenary  inspiration 
of  the  Bible,  have  a  fulfilment  of  this  prayer.  AVe  have  such 
"  a  sure  word  of  prophecy."  No  "  inaccuracies,"  "  imperfec- 
tions," "  ignorance,"  "  faUibility,"  of  the  writers  detract  in  the 
least  from  the  belief  that  this  Bible  is,  in  its  truths  and  its  es- 
sential expressions,  deserving  of  the  same  reverence  and  sub- 
mission as  though  it  were  written  on  the  throne  of  God  with 
his  own  hand,  and  had  been  visibly  delivered,  as  the  tables  of 
stone  were  delivered  in  the  presence  of  more  than  six  hun- 
dred thousand  witnesses. 


THE    DIVINE    CURSE    AGAINST    DEISM    AND    FORGERY. 

The  "  Revelation  "  by  the  apostle  John  was  written  last  of 
the  inspired  books,  and  extends,  in  its  predictions  and  direc- 
tions, to  the  end  of  time.  The  impression  which  it  makes  upon 
us  is,  that  it  is  the  close  of  divine  revelations.  Now,  it  is  no- 
ticeable that,  at  the  close  of  this  last  book,  there  should  be 
written  these  words  :  "  For  I  testify  unto  every  man  that 
heareth  the  words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book,  if  any  man 
shall  add  unto  these  things,  God  shall  add  unto  him  the  plagues 
which  are  written  in  this  book.  And  if  any  man  shall  take 
away  from  these  things,  God  shall  take  away  his  part  out  of 
the  bc>ok  of  life,  and  from  the  holy  city,  and  from  the  things 
which  are  written  in  this  book."  This  looks  like  a  flaming 
sword  turning  every  way  to  keep  the  inspired  book  from  wil- 
ful additions  and  mutilation ;  and  by  implication  it  asserts  that 
revelation  is  closed. 

To  this  it  is  replied,  that  the  book  of  Revelation  was  as  dis- 
tinct a  thing,  in  its  composition,  from  the  rest  of  the  Bible,  as 
Luke's  Gospel  is  from  the  five  books  of  Moses.     If  this  Reve- 


108  OUR     BIBLE 

lation  happened,  in  after  years,  to  be  bound  up  with  other 
writings,  as  men  collect  "  Sermons  on  the  Death  of  Webster  " 
for  example,  and  bind  them  in  one  volume,  how  absurd  to 
suppose  that  the  last  paragraph  in  the  last  sermon  of  that  vol- 
ume could,  in  any  way,  have  reference  to  the  whole  volume ! 

But  some  think  that  there  was  a  providential  design  in 
causing  the  Book  of  Revelation  to  be  written  last,  and  in  so 
directinji  affairs  that  it  should  stand  as  the  last  book  of  the 
Bible.  Therefore  they  say,  that  the  caution  and  threatening 
at  the  close  of  this  book  virtually  apply  to  the  whole  Bible. 

At  the  end  of  certain  private  grounds  which  terminate  in  an 
angle  where  two  roads  meet,  we  find  the  following  conspicuous 
notice :  "  All  persons  trespassing  upon  these  grounds  will 
be  dealt  with  according  to  law."  The  grounds  of  this  owner 
are  known  to  extend  an  eighth  of  a  mile  ;  but  they  are  divided 
into  orchard,  pasture,  and  fields  for  tillage.  Stone  walls  sepa- 
rate them. 

Certain  men  are  overheard,  near  the  orchard,  debating 
whether  the  notice  at  the  end  of  the  farm  is  designed  to  pro- 
tect the  whole  of  the  premises,  or  merely  the  pasture  land  at 
the  angle  where  the  farm  ends.  Stone  walls,  it  is  argued, 
separate  the  piece  in  which  the  notice  stands,  from  the  other 
portions.  Besides,  they  distinctly  remember  that  the  owner 
came  into  possession  of  these  several  portions  of  his  estate  at 
times  considerably  distant  from  each  other.  One  says  that  he 
is  sure  of  this ;  for  he  has  examined  the  registry  of  deeds  on 
this  very  point.  Had  the  owner  enclosed  the  whole  property 
at  one  and  the  same  time  with  one  wall,  they  argue  that  there 
could  be  no  question  how  much  the  warning  was  intended  to 
protect ;  but  they  conclude  that  if  trespassers  poach  on  the 
hill,  or  take  any  thing  in  the  fields,  they  are  beyond  the  limits 
which  the  cautionary  sign-board  was  meant  to  cover,  notwith- 
standing all  the  premises  belong  to  one  man. 


OUR     BIBLE.  109 

That  fearful  curse  against  those  who  tamper  with  the  book 
to  which  it  is  appended,  occurring  at  the  very  close  of  Scrip- 
ture, raises  one  of  those  questions  which  no  arguments  can 
determine,  but  which  every  one  is  disposed  to  answer  accord- 
ing to  the  amount  of  faith  which  he  may  have  in  the  Bible  as 
an  inspired  book.  Some  regard  it  as  a  literary  accident,  that 
those  words  stand  where  they  do.  Others  cannot  resist  the 
belief  that,  virtually,  they  reach  back  to  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis,  and  that  providence  intended  that  they  should  be  a 
sort  of  curfew,  or  a  burglar's  alarm  bell,  for  the  whole  Bible. 
They  who  wilfully  derogate  from  the  Bible,  they  who  know- 
ingly add  their  inventions  to  it,  are  alike  the  objects  of  this 
fearful  anathema.  —  We  must  not  impugn  another's  motives 
in  his  opinions  with  regard  to  the  Bible.  While  we  may 
deprecate  their  influence,  we  must  make  allowance  to  each 
other  for  differences  of  education  and  association  ;  and  we  shall 
do  well  to  bear  in  mind  the  words  of  Jesus  himself  on  this 
very  point :  "  If  any  man  hear  my  words  and  believe  not,  I 
judge  him  not;  for  I  came  not  to  judge  the  world,  but  to  save 
the  world.  He  that  rejecteth  me,  and  receiveth  not  my  words, 
hath  one  that  judgeth  him ;  the  word  that  I  have  spoken,  it 
shall  judge  him  in  the  last  day." 

It  is  apparent  that  the  Bible  was  made  for  faith.  While  it 
is  so  arranged  as  to  regard  our  doubts  and  difficulties,  nowhere 
do  we  find  it  suspicious  or  jealous  of  artifice  and  cunning  in 
its  readers  ;  but,  with  consciousness  of  honesty  and  truth,  it 
speaks  as  to  those  who  wish  to  be  informed  and  instructed. 

"word      of      god;" TWOFOLD     APPLICATION     OF     THE 

NAME. 

There  is  a  happy  coincidence,  and  it  is  eminently  suggestive, 
in  the  two  great  meanings,  in  the  Scriptures,  of  the  term,  "  Tho 
Word  of  God." 
10 


110  OUR     BIBLE. 

It  belongs  by  prior  right  to  Him  who  is  before  all  things,  and 
by  whom  all  things  consist ;  who,  "  in  the  beginning,  was  the 
Word,"  and  who,  in  the  New  Testament,  is  represented  to  us 
as  acting  with  the  prerogatives  of  Deity,  in  such  ways  that  we 
may  well  inquire  what  is  left  to  the  Supreme  God,  if  this  Word 
himself  be  not  God.  All  things  being  "  made  by  him  and  for 
him,"  "  upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power,"  "  Lord 
of  all,"  the  final  Judge  of  men,  he  may  be  said  to  be  the  acting 
Deity  as  to  our  world ;  and  being,  as  he  surely  is,  the  expo- 
nent of  the  Godhead,  its  revealer,  its  great  manifestation,  he 
is  appropriately  called  "The  Word,"  —  for  the  reason,  per- 
haps, that  a  word  is  the  exponent  of  the  secret  thought,  the 
enunciation  of  the  will,  the  executive  act  of  the  reason. 

We  also  apply  the  term,  ivord  of  God,  to  the  things  which 
holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  which  were  committed  to  writing.  One  of  the  most 
unworthy  efforts  of  modern  insidious  jealousy  of  the  Bible  is, 
to  destroy  its  commonly  received  title,  "  the  word  of  God."  If 
Jesus  Christ  sanctioned  the  Old  Testament  as  a  divine  guide, 
it  is  as  much  "  the  word  of  God  "  as  certain  ten  paragraphs 
inscribed  on  two  tablets  are  "  the  law  of  God."  Peter  says, 
"  If  any  man  speak,  let  him  speak  as  the  oracles  of  God." 
This  is  a  plain  reference  to  Holy  Scripture.  He  does  not 
mean,  of  course,  that  every  religious  teacher  shall  imitate  the 
voices  and  modes  of  utterance  by  which  God  spoke,  but  con- 
form his  teachings  to  the  things  uttered  ;  and  these  things  are 
as  properly  called  "  the  word  of  God "  as  a  certain  book  is 
called  "  Speeches."  Would  "  oracles  "  be  more  agreeable  to 
those  who  wish  to  disfranchise  the  Bible  of  its  old  name? 
But  this  is  nearly  synonymous  with  "  word  of  God."  To 
the  Jews,  Paul  says,  "  were  committed  the  oracles  of  God  ;  " 
they  "  received  the  lively  oracles,  to  give  unto  us,"  evidently  in 
a  written  form.     "  The  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God" 


OUR     BIBLE.  Ill 

are  spoken  of,  intimating  some  systematized,  codified  records ; 
and  we  are  told  to  speak  according  to  them.  If  the  Scrip- 
tures be  not  Avortliy  to  be  called  "  the  word  of  God,"  let  it  be 
proved ;  but  if  they  are,  the  exception  which  is  taken  by  some 
to  the  name,  is  whimsical ;  an  exaggerated  idea  of  the  "  corrup- 
tions of  Scripture,"  so  called,  infests  the  imagination ;  and  the 
best  cure  is,  to  let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  us  so  richly 
that  we  shall  cease  to  dwell  unduly  on  the  literary  imperfec- 
tions which,  after  all,  cannot  mar  its  original  purity. 

Our  Redeemer  and  our  Bible,  then,  are  connected  together 
by  a  term  which  illustrates  and  enhances  the  character  of 
each,  by  the  mutual  reflection  of  their  attributes  and  object ; 
the  Bible,  with  its  blending  of  divine  and  human  characteris- 
tics, symbolizing  Him  that  was  from  the  beginning  —  the 
Word  of  life,  which  was  with  the  Father,  and  was  manifested 
unto  us ;  and  in  like  manner,  the  Word  made  flesh  is  an  im- 
pressive illustration,  in  one  important  respect,  of  that  other 
word,  the  Bible.  For  of  Him  the  prophet  says,  "  He  shall 
grow  up  as  a  tender  plant,  and  as  a  root  out  of  dry  ground  ; 
he  hath  no  form  nor  comeliness,  and  when  we  shall  see  him, 
there  is  no  beauty  in  him  that  we  should  desire  him.  He  is 
despised  and  rejected  of  men."  Now,  the  natural  heart  of 
man  is  sometimes  offended  because  such  a  book  as  the  Bible 
professes  to  be,  should  have  so  much  that  is  human  about  it ; 
come  into  existence,  in  its  various  parts,  so  incidentally,  and 
almost  accidentally ;  be,  for  some  time,  in  many  portions  of  it, 
doubtfully  received;  and  afterwards  be  disputed  as  to  its 
claims  ;  and  at  last  be  subjected  to  such  accidents  of  transla- 
tion, and  all  the  vicissitudes  of  its  long  history,  that  (as  it  was 
said  of  the  Messiah,  "  His  visage  was  marred  more  than  any 
man's,  and  his  form  more  than  the  sons  of  men,")  the  '^hun- 
dred thousand  various  readings  "  which,  Gilbert  Wakefield 
says,  are  connected  with  its  several  passages,  seem  to  many  a 


112  OUR     BIBLE. 

sufficient  reason  for  rejecting  it  as  a  divine  book ;  and  men 
say  to  it,  as  they  did  among  the  crowning  scenes  of  redemp- 
tion to  Him  who  was  the  Word  of  God,  "  Save  thyself !  "  — 
imputing  injury  and  the  seeming  absence  of  divine  interposi- 
tion to  imposture. 

But  the  afflictions  of  the  Bible  and  their  results  are,  like 
the  scenes  of  Calvary,  among  the  chief  evidences  of  a  divine 
originah  Notwithstanding  the  "  hundred  thousand  various 
readings,"  the  received  meaning  of  the  Bible  has  been  sub- 
stantially the  same  from  age  to  age.  As  the  distinct  exist- 
ence of  the  Jews  is  a  standing  confirmation  of  the  truth  of 
Scripture,  so  the  integrity  of  the  word  of  God,  surviving  the 
persecutions,  wars,  fires,  floods,  of  so  many  ages,  the  careless- 
ness and  fraud  of  men,  is  a  standing  argument  in  favor  of  its 
divine  origin.  If  God  has  thus  interposed  to  preserve  a  book 
amid  such  perils,  and  while  it  has  been  the  object  of  human  and 
infernal  malice,  of  mistaken  zeal,  and  the  betraying  kiss,  it  is 
not  too  much  to  believe  that  He  interposed  in  its  composition. 
The  various  alterations  and  the  partial  injuries  which  it  has 
received,  are  strong  proofs  of  the  protecting  care  which  has 
watched  over  it.  AYe  are  told,  we  will  suppose,  that  the  most 
perfect  steamer  which  ever  floated  is  now  on  her  way  to  us . 
from  some  port  in  the  East  Indies.  She  arrives  at  one  of  our 
docks ;  but,  as  men  examine  her,  some  say,  "  Is  this  a  perfect 
ship  ?  Her  chimneys  are  white  with  dried  salt  spray  ;  some  of 
the  rigging  has  been  spliced  ;  some  of  the  spars  are  strained ; 
some  of  the  copper  is  started;  barnacles  are  on  her  hull." 
The  reply  is,  She  has  come  across  the  ocean.  It  would  not 
be  the  identical  ship  of  which  we  were  told,  if  the  sea  had  not 
thus  marked  her. 

Does  any  one  say,  The  Bible  has  signs  of  injury  upon  it  ? 
We  answer.  It  has  come  to  us  across  the  ocean  of  time ;  it 
has  been  around  the  globe ;   its  "  hundred  thousand  emenda- 


OUR     BIBLE.  113 

tions,"  trivial  or  bad,  show  that  the  hands  of  generations  have 
been  upon  it.  Every  form  of  peril  has  assailed  it  in  ages  of 
darkness  and  violence ;  it  has  been  hated,  cursed,  chained, 
banished,  burned;  floods  of  ungodly  men  have  compassed 
it  about ;  friends  have  proposed  to  leave  out  one  part,  en- 
emies have  torn  out  another.  But  here  it  is,  on  its  way 
to  the  end  of  time,  with  its  "  hundred  thousand  various  read- 
ings," uncorrupted  in  every  one  of  its  essential  truths.  Dis- 
coveries in  science  and  history  have  sometimes  cast  shadows 
upon  it ;  astronomy,  geology,  hieroglyphics,  exhumed  cities, 
have  made  its  friends  anxious  for  its  credibility ;  but  in  every 
instance,  thus  far,  the  shadows  have  passed  away,  and  left  it 
"forever  settled  in  the  heavens."  God,  who  made  the  sci- 
ences, chose,  in  writing  the  Bible,  to  describe  natural  things 
according  to  their  universal  appearance,  not  as  they  literally 
are.  Hence,  the  Bible  will  always  be  true  to  nature  and  sci- 
ence, so  long  as  the  sun  and  moon  endure.  Wonderful  book  ! 
"  God  is  in  the  midst  of  thee  ;  thou  shalt  not  be  moved ;  God 
shall  help  thee,  and  that  right  early."  Thou  art  that  river 
which  is  to  make  the  nations  glad,  till  the  ocean  of  eternity 
drinks  up  thy  stream,  and  all  thy  revelations  give  place  to  the 
full  vision  of  God. 

Suppose  that  some  time,  as  you  returned  to  your  house,  a 
friend  should  meet  you,  and  say,  The  chamber  is  full  of  light ; 
I  am  afraid  to  go  in.  You  approach,  and  the  impression  made 
upon  you  is,  How  dreadful  is  this  place !  this  is  none  other 
than  the  house  of  God,  and  this  is  the  gate  of  heaven.  Every 
morning  and  evening,  if  not  many  times  a  day,  you  would 
stand  at  the  door  of  that  chamber,  and  commune  with  God. 
But  now,  God  is  in  that  chamber,  though  in  a  different  form 
of  manifestation.  Where  is  your  Bible?  God  is  in  that 
book,  as  he  is  in  no  other  revelation.  Perhaps  your  Bible  is 
outwardly  poor,  time-worn,  and,  like  Jesus  when  on  earth,  has 
10* 


114  OUR     BIBLE. 

no  form,  nor  comeliness.  Go  to  that  Bible,  and  open  it ;  a  man 
will  seem  to  be  telling  some  narrative  ;  the  Psalmist  will  be 
complaining  to  his  harp,  or  sounding  its  prophetic  strings ;  but 
to  your  conscience,  to  your  heart,  if  you  are  still,  and  listen,  a 
voice  will  come,  like  the  breathings  of  the  wind,  —  the  voice 
of  the  Spirit  that  breathed  inspiration  or  controlling  influence 
around  its  every  thought, —  reminding  you  of  sin,  of  right- 
eousness, and  of  judgment,  of  the  love  of  God,  of  forgiveness 
through  Christ,  of  fleeting  time,  of  death,  of  heaven.  The 
name  of  a  departed  parent,  brother,  sister,  companion,  child, 
friend,  in  it,  links  it,  for  you,  with  heaven.  As  you  come 
nearer  and  nearer  to  the  close  of  life,  you  will  find  that  its 
value  rises  in  your  esteem  and  affection.  "  Bring  me  the 
book,"  said  Sir  Walter  Scott,  on  his  dying  bed.  ''  What 
book,  sir  ? "  said  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Lockhart.  "  There  is 
only  one  book,  sir !  "  said  that  dying  man,  who,  more  than  any 
other  modern  writer,  has  filled  the  world  with  his  fame. 

When  it  is  daybreak  on  the  sea,  the  sailor  no  longer  turns 
his  eye  to  the  friendly  lighthouse.  It  has  served  its  purpose 
for  the  night,  it  is  eclipsed  by  the  morning,  and  is  withdrawn. 
"  We  have  a  more  sure  word  of  prophecy  ;  where- 

UNTO  ye  do  well  THAT  YE  TAKE  HEED,  AS  UNTO  A 
LIGHT  THAT  SHINETH  IN  A  DARK  PLACE,  UNTIL  THE  DAY 
DAWN,  AND  THE  DAY-STAR  ARISE  IN  YOUR  HEARTS." 


IV. 
SCEIPTURAL    AEGUMENT 

FOR 

FUTURE,  ENDLESS  PUNISHMENT. 


I.  The  Scriptures  teach  that  ther8  is  a  penal- 
ty FOR  DISOBEDIENCE  AWAITING  THE  FINALLY  IMPENI- 
TENT. 

This  is  plainly  declared  in  Rom.  ii.  5-12,  16  :  "But  after 
thy  hardness  and  impenitent  heart,  treasurest  up  unto  thyself 
wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath,  and  revelation  of  the  right- 
eous judgment  of  God,  who  will  render  to  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  deeds :  to  them  who,  by  patient  continuance  in  well 
doing,  seek  for  glory,  and  honor,  and  immortality,  eternal 
life ;  but  unto  them  that  are  contentious,  and  do  not  obey 
the  truth,  but  obey  unrighteousness,  indignation  and  wrath, 
tribulation  and  anguish,  upon  every  soul  of  man  that  doeth 
evil ;  of  the  Jew  first,  and  also  of  the  Gentile  ;  but  glory,  hon- 
or, and  peace  to  every  man  that  worketh  good ;  to  .he  Jew 
first,  and  also  to  the  Gentile  ;  for  there  is  no  respect  of  per- 
sons with  God.  For  as  many  as  have  sinned  without  law, 
shall  also  perish  without  law ;  and  as  many  as  have  sinned  in 
the  law,  shall  be  judged  by  the  law,"  *'  in  the  day  when  God 
shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men  by  Jesus  Christ  according  to 
my  gospel."  The  parenthetic  passages  omitted  here,  which 
occur  before  the  last  of  these"  sentences,  are  a  direct  assertion 

of  the  full  accountableness  of  the  heathen  world  to  the  tribu- 

(115) 


116  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT. 

nal  of  God,  for  their  sins  against  their  consciences  and  the 
light  of  nature.  I  take  this  whole  passage  of  Scripture 
as  a  revelation  of  a  future  judgment  and  retribution,  in 
which  all  men  are  to  be  judged  and  treated  according  to  their 
works. 

The  ideas  which  are  presented  of  heaven,  both  by  Christ 
and  his  apostles,  come  to  us  through  objects  of  sense.  Every 
one  supposes  that  by  these  images,  as,  for  example,  "  sitting 
with  Christ  at  his  table  in  his  kingdom,"  "  new  wine,"  "  be- 
holding his  glory,"  and  "  gates  of  pearl,"  "  streets  of  gold," 
"  harps  "  and  "  crowns,"  it  is  intended  to  give  us  the  idea  of 
the  highest  pleasure  of  which  our  natures,  body  and  soul, 
shall  in  another  world  be  capable.  We  never  subtract  any 
thing  from  these  images  of  heavenly  joy,  saying.  They  are 
only  metaphors ;  we  rather  say.  Language  here  is  intensified, 
to  convey  the  ideas  of  future  happiness.  And  as  we  believe 
that  we  shall  have  bodies  in  heaven  "  like  unto  "  the  Saviour's 
"  glorious  body,"  we  are  never  unwilling  to  think  that  there  will 
be  enjoyments  adapted  to  the  body  with  the  soul  —  spir- 
itual, of  course,  in  both  cases,  and  yet  beautifully  distin- 
guished, but  capable  of  blending,  as  in  this  world.  This  way 
of  representing  unseen  things  to  us  is  not  so  much  "  Oriental " 
as  the  only  possible  way,  at  present,  of  communicating  spirit- 
ual objects  to  our  understanding. 

But  while  the  attractions  of  heaven  suffer  nothing  by  rea- 
son of  criticisms  upon  the  language  in  wLich  they  are  pre- 
sented, some  do  not  use  the  same  tolerance,  nor  apply  the 
same  principles  of  interpretation,  when  they  read  or  speak  of 
future  punishment.  Here,  they  say,  all  is  metaphorical.  Ori- 
ental;  they  select  certain  images,  and  ask  if  any  suppose 
that  the  wicked  are,  literally,  to  suffer  such  things,  from  just 
these  elements  of  pain.  But  tlie  representations  of  heaven 
are  certainly  obnoxious  to  the  very  same  criticisms,  and  sini' 


ENDLESS    RETRIBUTION.  117 

ilar  questions  may  be  asked  concerning  them.  But  being  of  a 
pleasurable  nature,  they  escape  criticism.  Therefore,  if  we 
are  inquired  of  in  either  case.  Do  you  believe  that  these 
things  are  literally  so  ?  the  proper  answer  seems  to  be  in 
both  cases.  Either  these  things,  or  things  which  now  can 
only  be  expressed  by  them.  Those  earthly  symbols  ap- 
proach nearer  than  any  thing  with  w^hich  we  are  now  ac- 
quainted, to  the  things  signified. 

The  condition  of  the  wicked  after  death  is  represented 
through  such  symbols  by  Christ  and  his  apostles  as  a  state  of 
positive  punishment.  With  a  desire  to  speak  cautiously  on 
such  a  point,  and  to  follow  only  the  most  obvious  leadings  of 
Scripture,  very  many  are  constrained  to  believe  that  while  the 
finally  impenitent  will  experience  the  consequences  naturally 
flowing  from  their  moral  condition,' those  consequences  of  their 
sins  will  be  kept  alive  by  the  power  of  God,  and  that  contin- 
ual sin  will  receive  continually  new  punishment.  In  the  ser- 
mon on  the  reasonableness  of  endless  punishment,  (see  the 
preface,)  I  assumed,  for  the  sake  of  the  argument,  that  future 
misery  should  consist  only  in  the  natural  consequences  of  evil, 
and  then  argued  that  it  was  reasonable  that  these  should  be 
endless.  I  also  deprecated  any  inquiry  beyond  the  plain  lan- 
guage of  the  New  Testament  as  to  the  elements  of  punish- 
ment. The  subject  forbade  any  extended  consideration  of  the 
nature  of  future  punishment,  nor  did  I  undertake  to  state  my 
own  belief  on  that  point.  In  attempting  now  to  show  that  the 
Scriptures  represent  the  future  condition  of  the  wicked  to  be 
a  state  of  punishment,  it  will  be  submitted  to  the  reader 
whether  infliction  from  the  hand  of  God  be  not  necessarily  in- 
volved in  the  language  of  the  Bible. 

One  of  those  indirect  proofs  of  a  thing  which  sometimes  are 
more  forcible  and  convincing  than  direct  statements,  occurs  in 
the  words  of  Christ  which  I  will  refer  to  as  proving  the  future 


118  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT. 

punishment  of  the  wicked,  in  which  he  tells  us  to  ''fear  Him 
which  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  helW  ^ 

If  God  has  merely  the  natural  ability  to  do  this,  while  his 
character  makes  it  morally  impossible  that  he  should  ever  do 
it,  the  illustration  is  singularly  at  fault.  It  w-ould  never  be 
proper  to  tell  a  child,  as  a  reason  why  it  should  fear  its  father 
and  mother,  that  they  have  power  to  inflict  a  punishment 
which  we  know  is  morally  impossible.  Their  mere  natural 
ability  to  inflict  it  would  not  justify  the  exhortation,  "  Yea,  I 
say  unto  you,  fear  them."  To  associate  the  idea  of  destroy- 
ing both  body  and  soul  in  hell  with  our  proper  fear  of  God, 
our  heavenly  Father,  if  he  would  do  no  such  thing,  would  not 
be  in  accordance  with  truth. 

Some,  to  avoid  this  difficulty,  say  that  the  passage  means 
merely  that  God  can  destroy  life.  But  so  can  they  who  kill 
the  body.  There  is  something  more  which  God  alone  can  do, 
and  which  we  need  rather  to  fear.  Others,  knowing  that  tlie 
original  word  for  hell  in  this  passage  cannot  mean  the  grave, 
propose  to  render  the  warning  thus :  that  God  can  cast  those 
whom  he  kills  into  the  valley  of  Hinnom.  But  so  could 
assassins  or  judicial  executioners.  We  still  look  for  that 
which  God  alone  can  do.  Some  say  it  must  be  annihilation. 
But  the  valley  of  Hinnom  is  notoriously  symbolical  of  per- 
petuity—  the  fire  always  burning,  the  worm  ever  breeding. 
Why,  moreover,  should  any  place  be  specified  in  which  the 
annihilation,  which  is  the  same  thing  every  where,  should 
occur  ?  Or  what  appropriateness  is  there  in  speaking  of  the 
soul  as  being  annihilated  there  ?  Destroying  both  soul  and 
body  in  hell  seems  to  be  equivalent  to  that  expression,  "  ever- 
lasting destruction"  —  an  apparent  contradiction  of  terms, 
but  conveying  the  idea  of  perpetual  loss  and  misery. 

We  get  no  relief  from  these  difficulties  with  the  passage  if 
1  Matt.  X.  28. 


ENDLESS    RETRIBUTION.  119 

we  turn  to  the  milder  form  in  which  the  idea  is  expressed  in 
Luke  xii.  5  :  "  Fear  Him  which  after  he  hath  killed  hath 
power  to  cast  into  hell ;  yea,  I  say  unto  you,  Fear  him ; "  for 
Gehenna,  understood  literally  as  the  valley  of  Hinnom,  pre- 
sents to  the  mind-  the  most  terrific  image  of  positive  misery. 
Nothing  can  be  more  revolting  or  fearful.  Let  those  who  are 
j(nilous  at  imputations  cast  upon  the  character  of  God  by  the 
doctrine  of  endless  punishment,  explain  how  Jesus  could  even 
suggest  the  idea  of  the  Father  casting  his  offspring  into  a 
place,  the  name  of  which  was  borrowed  from  the  most  fearful 
object  then  known  to  his  hearers.  Until  this  passage  is 
shown  to  imply  no  punishment  from  the  hand  of  God,  we 
must  regard  it  as  an  impregnable  proof  of  future  visitations 
of  misery  upon  the  wicked. 

Some  who  believe  in  future  punishment  seek  to  mitigate 
the  influence  of  the  dread  truth  upon  their  feelings  by  the 
theory  that  future  punishment  will  consist  only  in  the  natural 
effects  of  sin.  This  relieves  them  of  the  necessity  to  think 
that  God  will  inflict  any  thing  directly  upon  the  wicked. 

One  thing  seems  incontrovertible,  viz. :  the  Bible  does  not 
teach  us  that  sin  is  its  own  complete  punishment.  It  is  true 
that  without  the  elements  of  misery  in  themselves,  the  Bible 
tells  us,  sinners  could  not  be  made  miserable ;  nor  would  out- 
ward inflictions  constitute  punishment,  unless  there  were  some- 
thing within  for  the  fire  to  kindle.  But  it  admits  of  a  ques- 
tion whether,  if  the  sinner  should  be  left  entirely  to  himself, 
undisturbed  by  any  external  power,  adding  new  energy  to 
sorrow,  or  opening  new  sources  of  it,  he  could  not  in  time 
adjust  himself,  as  in  this  world,  to  any  circumstances.  Even 
in  this  world,  trouble,  or  the  infliction  of  pain  and  sorrow,  is 
necessary  to  rouse  the  conscience.  To  some  extent  God 
punishes  men  in  this  world,  for  this  purpose.  "  Because  they 
have  no  changes,  therefore  they  fear  not  God."     "  Moab  hath 


120  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT. 

been  at  ease  from  his  youth,  and  he  hath  settled  on  his  lees, 
and  hath  not  been  emptied  from  vessel  to  vessel."  The  sev- 
enty-third Psalm  describes  the  wicked  who  "  are  not  in  trouble 
as  other  men;  neither  are  they  plagued  like  other  men." 
Hence  "  their  strength  is  firm."  But  even  tribulation  is  pow- 
erless in  many  cases,  and  the  sinner  is  either  emboldened  by 
temporary  respite,  or  provoked  by  the  rod  to  further  oppo- 
sition. Pharaoh  is  an  eminent  example  of  this.  It  is  said  of 
another,  "  And  in  the  time  of  his  distress  did  he  trespass  yet 
more  against  the  Lord  ;  this  is  that  king  Ahaz."  Other  pas- 
sages in  accordance  with  these,  to  prove  the  positions  just  laid 
down,  might  easily  be  cited. 

So  that  however  terrible  and  bitter  the  condition  of  the  sin- 
ner might  be  at  first,  it  is  not  inconceivable  that  he  should  at 
last  say,  with  Satan  in  Paradise  Lost,  "  Hail  !  horrors,  hail ! 
and  thou,  profoundest  hell !  "  if  God  would  but  depart  from  him. 
Sinking  into  a  torpid,  brutish  state,  or  rousing  themselves  into 
defiant  forms  of  hatred  and  blasphemy,  occupying  themselves 
with  plots  and  counterplots  in  their  strife  with  each  other,  the 
wicked  in  hell,  like  bad  or  abandoned  people  here,  might  make 
tlieir  condition  tolerable.  They  would,  for  example,  feel  the 
need  of  subordination  among  themselves  for  their  own  protec- 
tion ;  selfishness  would  suggest  many  alleviations  of  misery  by 
mutual  forbearance;  and  as  the  worst  of  men  —  pirates,  gam- 
blers, debauchees  —  have  codes  of  honor,  and  ambition  its  fawn- 
ing flatteries,  and  pride  smothers  its  resentment,  and  selfishness 
in  all  its  forms  is  compelled  to  put  on  the  mask  of  submission  and 
obeisance,  so  the  wicked,  if  left  to  themselves,  even  with  their 
wickedness  festering  and  their  crimes  becoming  gigantic,  might 
manage,  by  self-control,  to  reduce  things  into  a  system  which 
to  their  wretched  natures  might,  in  very  many  cases,  be  even 
tolerable.  Sin  itself  is  no  misery  to  a  sinner ;  it  must  meet 
with  ill  success,  it  must  be  compelled  to  feel  a  superior  power 


ENDLESS    RETRIBUTION.  121 

acting  contrary  to  itself;  then,  indeed,  it  is  the  occasion  of  mis- 
ery. It  is  no  sonx)\v  to  wicked  men  here  for  Gad  to  depart 
from  them  ;  it  is  rather  their  desiye ;  "  therefore  they  say  unto 
God,  Depart  from  us,  for  we  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy 
ways."  Saul  never  would  have  uttered  that  bitter  cry,  "  God 
is  departed  from  me,  and  is  become  my  enemy,"  if  the  Philis- 
tines had  not  pursued  hard  after  him.  God  and  he  had  been 
for  a  long  time  far  apart;  but  very  little  did  Saul  care  for  this, 
until  the  day  of  his  calamity  made  haste. 

If,  therefore,  there  is  to  be,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term, 
punishment,  after  death,  it  would  seem  that  there  must,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  be  visitations  upon  the  wicked  of  that  which 
the  Bible  calls  "  indignation  and  wrath,  tribulation  and  an- 
guish." While  there  must  be  in  the  sinner  himself  a  state  of 
things  which  will  make  these  inflictions  punishment,  there 
must  also  be  a  mighty  hand  stretched  out  forever  to  make  the 
future  condition  of  the  wicked  one  of  retribution.  There  is 
both  error  and  truth  in  the  common  saying  with  many  that 
future  misery  will  proceed  from  conscience;  —  error,  if  it  be 
supposed  that  conscience  left  to  itself  will  occasion  torment ; 
for,  if  in  this  world,  with  so  much  to  stimulate  conscience,  it  so 
easily  falls  asleep,  the  provocations,  and  the  necessity  of  self- 
defence,  and  redress,  and  all  the  bad  influences  of  hell,  must 
have  the  power  totally  to  sear  it;  —  but  there  is  truth  in  the 
saying,  if  it  be  allowed  that  God  is  to  visit  the  wicked  in  ways 
that  will  excite  conscience  against  them ;  this  would  be  "  in- 
fliction," compared  with  which  fire  and  brimstone,  though  the 
most  appalling  images  of  torture  we  can  easily  conceive,  do 
not  convey  more  terrible  ideas  of  retribution. 

Now,  the   Bible  is  continually  representing  the  wicked  as 

receiving  from    God   positive    inflictions,  and  not  merely  as 

being  abandoned  to  themselves.     Even  when  it  speaks  of  many 

sources  of  misery  which  might  seem  to  be  the  natural  conse- 

11 


122  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT. 

queiices  of  their  sin,  it  often  represents  these  consequences  as 
being  admiftistered  by  the  direct  agency  of  the  Ahiiiglity.  So 
that  the  two  things  seem  to  J)e  combined.  '^  Upon  the  wicked 
he  shall  rain  snares,  fire  and  brimstone,  and  a  horrible  tem- 
pest ;  this  shall  be  the  portion  of  their  cup."  "  Now  consider 
this,  ye  that  forget  God,  lest  I  tear  you  in  pieces,  and  there  be 
none  to  deliver."  "  God  is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day. 
If  he  turn  not,  he  will  w4iet  his  sword ;  he  hath  bent  his  bo\v 
and  made  it  ready."  These  passages  teach  that  sinners  will 
not  merely  be  left  to  the  natural  consequences  of  sin.  The 
ideas  of  arrest,  and  of  execution,  are  here  presented  ;  the  trans- 
gressor is  not  left  to  himself,  with  merely  his  sin  for  his  pun- 
ishment. Then,  again,  we  read,  "  Woe  unto  the  wicked  ;  it  shall 
be  ill  with  him ;  for  the  reward  of  his  hands  shall  be  given 
him."  "  Yea,  woe  unto  them  also  when  I  depart  from  them." 
Even  though  the  wicked  should  not  suffer  otherwise,  nor  to  a 
greater  degree,  than  they  are  capable  of  suffering  in  their 
minds  here,  yet,  if  they  are  to  be  punished,  these  sufferings 
must  be  kept  active  by  an  outward  power  ;  for  their  natural 
tendency  is  to  harden  and  stupify,  or  to  excite  passions  whose 
gratification  affords  a  certain  redress. 

All  this  we  may  believe  without  venturing  one  step  Into  the 
dominion  of  fancy  to  depict  the  kind  and  manner  of  those  in- 
flictions which  are  necessary  to  constitute  punishment.  Nor 
is  it  necessary  ;  for  knowing  as  we  do  by  experience  and  obser- 
vation what  the  passions  of  the  human  heart  are  when  restraint 
is  weakened  or  removed,  we  need  no  external  images  of  woe 
to  represent  what  it  must  be  for  God  to  minister  excitement  to 
them  by  his  presence  and  his  intercourse  with  them.  In  a 
sense  he  departs  from  them,  as  he  did  from  Saul.  By  this  is 
signified  the  withdrawal  of  every  thing  merciful,  alleviating, 
hopeful,  and  of  a  restraining,  reformatory  nature.  Yet  he 
will  always  make  his  presence  to  be  felt ;  for  "  if  I  make  my 


ENDLESS    RETRIBUTION.  123 

bed  in  hell,  behold,  thou  art  there."  While,  therefore  material 
images  of  woe,  if  too  specific,  seem  to  degrade  the  subject,  and 
are  ai)t  to  pass  over,  in  their  effect  on  some,  from  the  extreme 
of  horror  to  the  grotesque,  they  are  not  objectionable  on  the 
score  of  over-statement ;  nothing  which  fancy  ever  depicted  be- 
ing capable  of  expressing  the  misery  which  must  be  felt  by  a 
depraved  ^oul  opposed  to  God  and  with  God  for  its  punisher. 
We  have  only  to  think  of  what  is  sometimes  felt  at  funerals 
and  closing  graves,  to  see  what  future  misery  must  be  in  one 
of  its  merely  incidental  forms  —  the  loss  of  all  good,  forever. 
If  God  shall  but  keep  perpetually  fresh  such  sorrows  as  men 
feel  here,  he  will  fulfil  a  large  part  of  that  which  the  Saviour 
and  the  apostles  have  declared  to  be  the  future  portion  of  the 
wicked.  So  that  when  good  men,  like  Leighton,  Baxter,  An- 
drew Fuller,  the  Wesleys,  Watts,  and  Edwards,  portray,  ac- 
cording to  their  several  conceptions,  the  pains  of  the  wicked, 
they  fall  far  below  the  truth  ;  and  their  representations,  if  at 
all  objectionable,  are  not  so  for  the  reason  that  they  surpass 
the  dread  reality ;  for  that  is  impossible.  Let  us  now  con- 
sider the  following  passages  :  — 

"  As  therefore  the  tares  are  gathered  and  are  burned  in  the 
fire,  so  shall  it  be  in  the  end  of  the  world.  The  Son  of  man 
shall  send  forth  his  angels,  and  they  shall  gather  out  of  his 
kingdom  all  things  that  offend  and  them  which  do  iniquity,  and 
shall  cast  them  into  a  furnace  of  fire;  there  shall  be  wailing 
and  gnashing  of  teeth."  These  same  closing  words  are  used  a 
few  verses  afterwards,  in  explaining  the  parable  of  tlie  net. 
Not  to  burden  the  attention  of  the  reader,  there  is  one  passaije 
more  which  I  will  quote  in  connection  with  the  preceding,  for 
the  sake  of  briefly  remarking  upon  them,  before  passing  to  the 
next  topic. 

The  passage  to  which  I  refer  is,  "  And  the  third  angel  fol- 
lowed them,  saying  with  a  loud  voice,  If  any  man  worship  the 


124  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT. 

beast  and  liis  image,  and  receive  his  mark  in  his  forehead  or  in 
his  hand,  the  same  shall  drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  God 
which  is  poured  out  without  mixture  into  the  cup  of  his  indig- 
nation ;  and  he  shall  be  tormented  with  fire  and  brimstone  in 
the  presence  of  the  holj  angels,  and  in  the  presence  of  the 
Lamb:  and  the  smoke  of  their  torment  ascendeth  up  forever 
and  ever:  and  they  have  no  rest,  day  nor  night,  who  worship 
the  beast  and  his  image,  and  whosoever  receiveth  the  mark  of 
his  name."  * 

If  the  Bible  says  that  angels,  at  the  last  day,  inflict  on  the 
wicked  that  which  can  best  be  compared  only  to  casting  them 
into  a  furnace  of  fire,  I  will  implicitly  believe  it.  My  reason 
ascertains  whether  this  is  said,  beyond  reasonable  doubt ;  then 
reason  bows  to  revelation.  I  will  not  object  that  such  em- 
ployment does  not  consist  with  my  conceptions  of  angelic 
natures.  If  I  did,  the  question  would  be  aj)propriate,  Do  you 
consent  that  a  holy  angel  should  have  cut  off  the  hundred  and 
eighty-five  thousand  Assyrians  of  Sennacherib's  army  in  one 
night,  and  that  another  should  have  directed  the  pestilence  of 
three  days  in  Israel?  What  will  you  do  about  these  things? 
You  are  disposed,  perhaps,  to  associate  angels  with  "  birds  and 
flowers,"  with  elves  and  fairies,  and  not  with  garments  rolled 
in  blood,  or  hands  reeking  with  slaughter.  My  reply  is,  I  will 
correct  my  natural  or  acquired  feelings  by  the  word  of  God. 
But  the  word  of  God  says  that  angels  will  cast  "  all  things  that 
offend,  and  them  which  do  iniquity,  into  a  furnace  of  fire."  In- 
animate things  are  not  meant ;  for  it  is  added,  "  there  shall  be 
wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth."  Moreover,  the  word  of  God 
says  that  the  idolatrous  worshippers  of  the  beast  shall  be  tor- 
mented with  fire  and  brimstone  in  the  presence  of  the  holy 
angels  and  of  the  Lamb. 

My  only  question  will  be  again,  Does   the  Bible  mean  by 

1  Rev.  xiv.  9-11. 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  12j 

tliis  tliat  men  will  be  made  to  suffer  in  a  way  whicli  is  most 
appropriately  expressed  by  fire  and  brimstone  ;  that  even  if 
it  be  not  literally  so,  there  would  really  be  nothing  to  choose 
between  the  two  things,  the  figure  and  the  literal  meaning  ? 
And  does  it  say  that  holy  angels,  and  the  Lamb  of  God  him- 
self, will  look  on,  approve,  and  confirm  the  infliction  ?  If  so, 
1  fully  and  firmly  believe  it ;  —  be  it  figurative  or  literal,  I 
believe  it,  and  I  will  take  it  to  be  the  same  as  literal.  And  I 
will  postpone  the  explanation  to  my  natural  feelings,  till  I 
know  more.  I  find  that  when  men  fully  understand  the  enor 
mities  of  some  outrage  upon  a  fellow-creature,  and  the  soul  is 
filled  with  them,  the  punishment,  swift  or  slow,  meets  with  no 
repugnance  in  their  nature.  Perhaps  when  I  know  more 
about  sin  and  unbelief,  it  will  be  so  with  regard  to  future  pun- 
ishment. Only  let  me  be  persuaded  that  the  language  of  the 
Bible,  properly  interpreted,  declares  any  thing;  then  there  is 
no  appeal. 

But  I  now  respectfully  ask  the  attention  of  the  reader,  when 
I  say,  that  if  I  did  not  believe  in  there  being  a  state  of  future 
punishment  which  justifies  such  language,  I  fear  that  I  could 
not  stop  short  of  the  boldest  infidelity.  I  might  even  assail 
the  Bible  as  unfit  to  be  read.  It  is  no  relief  to  tell  me  that 
the  language  does  not  mean  all  which  it  would  seem  to  con 
vey.  I  should  reply,  This  is  bad  language,  unless  there  be 
something  which  language  of  this  sort  only  can  express.  But 
if  it  be  an  exaggeration  of  a  truth,  or  if,  for  the  sake  of  im 
prcssion,  an  idea  is  conveyed  which  is  false,  a  man  may  as 
well  apologize  to  me  for  a  profane  blasphemer,  saying  that  his 
oaths  do  not  really  mean  all  which  they  express,  as  try  to 
reconcile  me  to  the  belief  that  such  words  as  these  are  in- 
spired. It  is  not  the  truth  which  offends  me,  but  the  untruth- 
fulness of  tl]e  language.  The  words  are  not  decorous  ;  my 
moral  sense  is  abused,  when  I  read  such  expressions,  unless 
11* 


126  SCRIPTURAL     ARGUMENT. 

substantial  truth  requires  them.  The  sin  is  not  against  ra> 
faith,  but  against  my  understanding.  If  there  be  nothing  in 
holy  angels,  and  in  the  Saviour,  which  corresponds  to  these 
representations,  I  should  be  tempted  to  go  at  once  from  the 
Bible  to  the  teaching  and  preaching  of  some  man  who  rejects 
the  Bible,  and  rejects  it  partly  because  it  uses  such  language. 
But  where  should  I  find  such  a  preacher,  who  would  not 
trouble  me  with  the  inconsistency  of  taking  his  text  every 
Sabbath  from  the  very  book  from  which  I  seek  to  flee  ?  So 
true  is  it  that  the  stoutest  unbeliever  cannot  shake  off  the  hold 
which  the  Bible  has  upon  his  moral  nature.  Absolute  scep- 
ticism seems  to  be  as  impossible  as  universal  knowledge. 

"  Cast  them  into  a  furnace  of  fire,"  "in  the  presence  of  the 
holy  angels,"  "  and  of  the  Lamb."  Some  tell  me  that  this  is 
"Oriental;"  some  that  it  is  merely  "flame-picture;"  some 
that  it  is  "mere  hyperbole."  Now,  if  a  mere  show  of  dis- 
pleasure is  signified  by  this  language,  the  objection  is,  not  to 
the  punishment,  but,  that  such  inappropriate,  such  defamatory 
representations  should  be  used  in  connection  with  the  holy 
angels  and  the  Lamb  of  God.  If  you  will  insist  that  the 
words  are  true,  I  have  no  objection  to  make.  But  the  Bible 
does  not  observe  the  ordinary  laws  of  decorum  in  language, 
unless  truth  would  be  violated  by  the  use  of  other  and  milder 
terms  than  these,  in  describing  the  future  infliction  of  punish- 
ment upon  the  wicked. 

The  following  Scriptures,  teaching  that  the  wicked  are  in 
misery  after  death,  confirm  the  foregoing  statements  :  "  The 
wicked  is  driven  away  in  his  wickedness."  "  The  ungodly  are 
like  the  chaff  which  the  wind  driveth  away."  "  The  men  of 
Sodom  were  wicked  and  sinners  before  God  exceedingly." 
"  And  the  Lord  rained  fire  and  brimstone  out  of  heaven,  and 
destroyed  them  all."  "The  rich  man  died,  and  was  buried; 
and  in  hell  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torment."     '^  Judas 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  127 

by  transgression  fell,  and  went  to  his  own  place."  "  If  ye 
believe  not  that  I  am  he,  ye  shall  die  in  your  sins."  "  And 
where  I  am,  thither  ye  cannot  come." 

He  who  will  say  that  such  men  as  are  here  described  meet 
in  death  with  a  change  of  character  which  prepares  them  at 
once  for  happiness,  may  as  well  assert,  once  for  all,  that  delu- 
sion is  practised  upon  us  by  the  representations  of  the  Bible ; 
that  the  object  is  merely  to  frighten  the  living ;  that  apparent 
judgments  upon  the  wicked,  death  and  its  terrors,  are  merely 
a  dumb  show,  a  tragic  demonstration,  a  dissolving  view  turn- 
ing, within  the  veil,  into  manifestations  of  compassion  and 
love.  There  have  not  been  wanting  men,  who,  in  their  con- 
cern for  the  character  of  God,  have  interpreted  his  words  of 
vengeance,  and  his  terrible  acts  towards  the  wicked,  in  this 
manner  —  as  though  such  deception  were  any  relief  from  im- 
putations of  undue  severity.  Archbishop  Tillotson  ventured 
such  an  explanation,  and  President  Edwards's  ironical  reproof 
of  him  and  others,  for  betraying  their  Maker's  secret,  is  well 
known.  There  are  some  even  now  who,  like  the  sect  of  Man- 
ichees,  seem  to  hold  that  all  evil  resides  in  matter,  and  there- 
fore that  in  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body,  the  soul 
becomes  pure.  But  the  question  before  us  is.  What  do  the 
Scriptures  teach  ?  If  there  be  any  thing  conclusive  in  posi- 
tive statements,  this  is  placed  beyond  all  reasonable  dispute  — 
that  some  men  die  in  their  sins,  and  that  after  death  they 
have  in  themselves  the  elements  of  misery.  The  rich  man 
surely  is  an  instance  of  this.  Judas's  "  own  place  "  was  not 
heaven. 

We  have  seen  thus  far  that,  while  the  Scriptures  represent 
the  wicked  themselves  to  be  an  essential  source  of  their  own 
misery,  future  punishment  necessarily  implies  infliction,  or  ex- 
citation, from  a  source  beyond  the  sinner  himself.  Some  op- 
probriously  call  this  "  the  doctrine  of  endless  torture."     But 


128  SCRIPTURAL     ARGUMENT. 

there  is  something  more  terrible  here  than  "  torture."  If  the 
sinner  were  made  to  feel  constantly  that  he  is  in  the  hands 
of  a  torturer,  many  a  passion  of  his  nature  might  minister 
strength  to  his  resistance,  and  impart  fortitude.  But  to  have 
his  own  self  excited  against  him  forever,  so  as  to  seem  the 
proximate  cause  of  his  misery,  is  the  more  helpless  woe.  But 
however  the  sources  of  it  may  be  combined,  we  have  seen  that 
the  wicked  are  in  misery  after  death.  The  question  now  is, 
Will  their  misery  remain  for  ever  ?  Do  the  Scriptures  teach 
that  the  punishment  of  the  wicked,  made  up  as  it  necessarily 
is  from  the  natural  consequences  of  evil  doing  and  positive  in- 
flictions from  the  hand  of  God,  will  be  without  end  ?  The 
affirmative  of  this  question  I  have  undertaken  to  prove. 

But  it  may  be  said.  You  undertake  an  impossible  task,  be- 
cause you  know  nothing  of  futurity.  Principles  may  yet  be 
evolved  which  now  are  slumbering  in  the  bosom  of  God.  You 
must  journey  farther  than  man  has  gone  before  you  can  de- 
cide this  subject.  "  Have  the  gates  of  death  been  opened  to 
thee  ?  or  hast  thou  seen  the  doors  of  the  shadow  of  death  ?  " 

The  only  question  to  be  considered  is.  What  do  the  Scrip- 
tures now  teach  as  to  the  future  condition  of  the  wicked  ?  Do 
they,  or  do  they  not,  represent  it  as  unalterable  ?  If  we  can 
ascertain  this,  we  need  not  perplex  ourselves  as  to  ulterior 
revelations  ;  nor  should  we  refuse  to  receive  the  present  testi- 
jnony  of  God,  with  the  objection  that  something  more  may 
possibly  be  said  hereafter.  What,  then,  does  the  Bible  teach 
us  as  to  the  state  and  prospects  of  the  impenitent  after  death  ? 

Let  the  reader  now  endeavor  to  lay  out  of  the  question  all 
considerations  relating  to  the  reasonableness  or  justice  of  fu- 
ture, endless  punishment.  Let  him  not  foreclose  the  discus- 
sion in  his  own  mind  by  saying  that  it  is  unreasonable  and  un- 
just, and  therefore  that  it  cannot  be  in  the  Bible.  Rather  let 
him  first  ascertain  whether  it  be  taught  there,  and  then,  if  he 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  129 

will,  let  him  debate  with  himself  whether  finding  it  there,  he 
will,  or  will  not,  receive  the  Bible  itself. 

In  considering  whether  the  Scriptures  teach  that  the  pun- 
ishment of  the  wicked  will  be  without  end,  we  will  see  if  the 
following  proposition  can  be  maintained  :  — 

II.  Redemption  by  Christ  is  represented  as  hay- 
ing   FOR   ITS    object    SALVATION    FROM  FINAL  PERDITION. 

If  upon  the  failure  of  all  which  is  done  in  redemption  to 
save  men,  they  are  to  be  subjected  to  another  probation  after 
death,  there  are  powerful  reasons  to  think  that  the  surest  way 
to  effect  their  recovery  is,  to  let  them  know  beforehand  that 
God  will  give  them  a  second  trial. 

For  this  is  manifestly  the  way  in  which  God  proceeded  with 
the  Hebrew  people,  whose  reformation  in  this  world,  and 
whose  allegiance,  he  was  seeking  to  secure.  In  foresight  of 
their  apostasy  and  punishment,  they  were  told  beforehand  that 
they  should  have  a  second  probation.  The  following  words 
are  an  explicit  declaration  to  this  effect,  and  are  an  instance  of 
divine  wisdom  which  man  would  never  have  devised,  from  fear 
of  consequences.  After  telling  Israel  of  the  happy  fruit  which 
would  attend  their  obedience,  and  the  direful  effects  of  their 
apostasy,  instead  of  leaving  them  in  doubt  whether  they  will 
have  a  second  probation,  God  expressly  tells  them  that  they 
shall  be  again  restored.  "  When  thou  art  in  tribulation  and  all 
these  things  are  come  upon  thee,  even  in  the  latter  days,  if 
thou  turn  to  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  shalt  be  obedient  unto  his 
voice,  (for  the  Lord  thy  God  is  a  merciful  God,)  he  will  not 
forsake  thee,  neither  destroy  thee,  nor  forget  the  covenant  of 
thy  fathers  which  he  sware  unto  thee."  ^ 

It  might  have  been  argued  with  much  plausibleness  that 
such  an  announcement  would  be  inexpedient ;  that  it  would 

1  Deut.  iv.  30. 


130  SCRIPTURAL     ARGUMENT. 

have  a  direct  effect  to  make  men  careless  and  presumptuous 
But  infinite  wisdom  judged  otherwise,  and  proceeded  at  differ- 
ent times  to  say,  "  If  his  children  forsake  my  law  then  will  I 
visit  their  transgressions  with  the  rod ;  —  nevertheless  my  lov- 
ing kindness  will  I  not  utterly  take  from  him."  And  again  . 
"  If  my  covenant  be  not  with  day  and  night,  then  will  I  cast 
off  the  seed  of  Jacob  ;  —  for  I  will  cause  their  captivity  to  re- 
turn, and  have  mercy  upon  them."  Again :  "  I  will  for  this 
afflict  the  seed  of  David,  but  not  forever." 

What  principle  in  moral  natures  is  there  which  makes  this 
announcement,  to  sinners,  of  future  clemency  and  restoration, 
wise  and  expedient  ?  The  obvious  answer  is,  Hope.  Whether 
or  not  there  can  ever  be  repentance  without  hope,  it  is  certain 
that  hope  is  a  powerful  means  of  repentance.  "  How  many 
hired  servants  of  my  father  have  bread  enough  and  to  spare, 
and  I  perish  with  hunger.  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father, 
and  say  unto  him.  Father,  I  have  sinned  — ."  The  promise 
of  a  future  trial,  the  explicit  avowal  of  relenting  in  his  dis- 
pleasure, with  a  view  to  the  final  recovery  of  the  transgressors, 
was  deemed  by  the  Most  High  to  be  essential  in  the  exercise 
of  his  administration  in  ancient  times.  The  admixture  of 
hope  in  his  threatenings,  the  line  of  light  in  the  horizon  below 
the  coming  tempest,  was  regarded  by  Jehovah  as  a  necessary 
means  of  effecting  the  ultimate  restoration  of  the  Jews,  so  that, 
to  this  day,  provision  is  made  for  hope  to  fasten  its  hand  upon 
exceeding  great  and  precious  promises,  the  moment  that  the 
thought  arises  of  turning  to  God.  He  would  have  the  sinners 
think,  in  their  deep  distress  under  the  chastising  rod,  that  he 
would  be  found  of  them,  if  they  returned  and  sought  him,  and 
that  he  made  provision  for  hope  even  while  the  terrible  blow 
was  about  to  descend. 

In  offering  pardon  and  salvation  to  men  through  the  suffer- 
ings and  death  of  Christ,  and  in  setting  forth  the  consequences 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  ICl 

of  neglecting  so  great  salvation,  if  God  does  not  intimate  that, 
nevertheless,  the  wicked  shall  not  be  utterly  cast  off,  surely  it 
is  not  because  it  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  principles  of 
moral  government  thus  to  mingle  hope  with  chastisement. 
We  have  seen  that  intimations  of  future  mercy  were  made  to 
men  who  were  abusing  the  most  signal  acts  of  divine  favor ; 
and  that  to  secure  their  future  repentance,  God  judged  it  wise 
and  prudent  to  prevent  the  ill  effect  which  wrath  and  punish- 
ment might  have  upon  them,  by  so  ordering  it  that  they  should 
recollect  amidst  their  punishment  that  even  long  before  the 
moment  of  descending  wrath,  he  remembered  mercy,  and  that, 
accordingly,  when  about  to  cast  them  off,  he  said,  "  How  shall 
r  give  thee  up  ? —  my  heart  is  turned  within  me,  my  repent- 
ings  are  kindled  together."  And  the  anointed  prophet  said  in 
his  name,  "  He  will  return,  he  will  have  mercy  upon  us  ;  and 
thou  wilt  cast  their  iniquities  into  the  depths  of  the  sea."  AH 
this,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  not  a  sudden  relenting ;  it 
was  part  of  a  plan  announced  so  long  beforehand  as  to  give 
evidence  of  special  design. 

We,  therefore,  say,  that  if  no  such  foretokens  of  far  distant 
mercy  and  forgiveness  are  now  made  to  those  who  reject 
Christ,  it  cannot  properly  be  argued  that  it  would  be  unsuita- 
ble, and  that  wisdom  and  prudence  forbid.  On  the  contrary, 
such  promises  would  be  in  accordance  with  those  former  deal- 
ings of  God  with  men  in  which  he  has  manifested  the  most 
peculiar  love  for  transgressors.  It  would  be  analogous  to  his 
former  conduct  should  he  intimate,  in  immediate  connection 
with  his  threatenings,  that  if  we  neglect  our  present  opportuni- 
ty and  means  of  salvation,  and  subject  ourselves  necessarily  to 
a  long  and  fearful  discipline  of  sorrow,  nevertheless  the  time 
will  come  when  he  will  return  and  be  pacified  towards  us  for 
all  which  we  have  done.  If  no  such  intimations  are  given, 
we  have  strong  presumptive  evidence  that  it  is  because  the 
condition  of  the  wicked  at  death  is  final. 


132  SCRIPTURAL     ARGUMENT. 

For,  as  we  read  the  threatenings  against  Edom,  and  Babj 
Ion,  and  Egjpt,  and  Tyre,  we  find  no  words  of  promise  min 
gled  with  the  predictions  of  their  doom.  Probation  for  them 
is  past;  hence,  when  God  is  declaring  his  vengeance  against 
them,  not  one  word  is  uttered  which,  in  the  hour  of  their  down- 
fall, would  come  to  their  memories  as  a  ray  of  hope.  The 
utter  ruin  and  desolation  of  those  kingdoms  show  the  reason 
for  withholding  every  promise  of  future  mercy  ;  it  was  intend- 
ed that  their  destruction  should  be  final. 

But  it  may  be  said,  Is  God  under  any  obligation  to  disclose 
all  his  future  purposes  with  regard  to  the  wicked  ?  Surely 
not ;  but  certainly  he  will  not  deceive  us  ;  he  is  not  obliged 
to  tell  us  any  thing ;  but  if  he  tells  us  a  part,  he  will  not  make 
false  impressions. 

But  some  will  say.  It  may  now  be  wise  in  God  to  vary  his 
plan,  and  suffer  the  wicked  to  "depart"  with  the  full  expec- 
tation that  their  doom  is  forever  ;  and  then  he  may  interpose 
and  save  them.     Who  will  deny  that  this  is  possible  ? 

It  is  evidently  the  object  of  the  gospel  to  save  men  here 
from  their  sins,  and  to  rescue  them  from  future  misery,  limited 
or  endless.  Is  it  honest,  or,  would  it  not  be  like  "  false  pre- 
tences," to  make  the  impression  that  there  is  to  be  no  further 
probation  after  death,  if  the  idea  is  utterly  inconsistent  with 
the  character  of  God  ?  We  know  what  is  thouglit  of  one  who 
offers  his  wares  as  positively  the  last,  and  then  produces  more. 
The  question  is  simply  this  :  Would  God  seek  to  save  men  by 
making  them  think  that  this  is  their  only  chance  of  pardon, 
when  he  knows  that  it  is  not  to  be  the  last  ?  But  if  God  in- 
tended that  we  should  believe  this  to  be  the  last,  who  among 
the  sons  of  the  mighty  is  entitled  to  the  merit  of  having  un- 
deceived us  ?  It  is  impiety  to  assert  that  there  is  a  future 
probation,  against  the  plain  declarations  of  the  Bible,  if  such 
declarations  are  made. 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  133 

Now  let  us  examine  the  inspired  record.     At  the  very  close 
of  the   Bible,  we  read,  "  He  that  is  unjust  let  him   be  unjust 
still,  and  he  that  is  filthy  let  him  be  filthy  still,  and  he  that  is 
righteous  let  him  be  righteous  still,  and  he  that  is  holy,  let  him 
be  holy  still."     As  the  "  unjust"  and  "filthy"  never  could  be 
directed  to  refrain,  in  this  world,  from  efforts  to  become  good, 
(unless  their  day  of  grace  were  past,)  these  words  are  obvious- 
ly a  declaration   that  character  is  unchangeable   after  death. 
In  faithful  consistency  even  to  the  last  with  the   great  distin- 
guishing feature  of  the  Christian  religion,  viz.,  regard  for  the 
individual,  the  closing  words  of  the   Bible  have  reference  to 
each  accountable  member  of  the  human  family :  "  And  behold 
I  come  quickly,  and  my  reward  is  with  me,  to  give  to  every 
man  according  as  his  work  shall  be."     Here  is  the  place  where 
we  should  look  for  intimations,  if  any  could  be  made,  of  future 
probation.     Here  is  the  promontory  which   runs  down   to  the 
unfathomable   main,  looks  forth  on  "  that  ocean  we  must  sail 
so  soon  ; "  and  as   it  terminates  all  earthly  efforts  after  salva- 
tion, does  it  give  us  one  hint  about  some  future  method  of  re- 
covery ?   Are  there  signals  prepared  on  this  cape  and  headland, 
indicating  to  the  eye  of  despair,  afar  off,  that  the  cross  of  Christ 
holds  out  proposals  of  reconciliation  still,  to  those  who  trampled 
it  under  foot,   on   their  way  to  eternity?     On  the  contrary, 
every  thing  makes  the  impression  on  the  vast  majority  of  read- 
ers ever  since  these  words  were  written,  that  t/ie  results  of 
life  are  to  be  final.     No  hopeful  class  of  probationers  are  rep- 
resented  as    "  without,"    when   the    righteous    have   entered 
through  the  gates  into  the  city.     All  the  sublime  images  in  the 
last  chapters  of  this  book,  come  thronging  down  to  that  shore 
where  inspiration  lays  aside  its  pen  and  looks  towards  the  shore- 
less waste  beyond  time.     It  has  been  said  that  the  Old  Testa- 
ment en  is  with  a  curse.     This  is  a  mistake.     It  ends  with  a 
promise  of  turning  the  hearts  of  fathers  and  children,  to  avert 
12 


134  SCRIPTURAL     ARGUMENT. 

a  curse.  But  no  prediction  of  any  turning  of  hearts  in  eter- 
nity occurs  at  the  close  of  that  book  which  gives  us  the  last 
information  respecting  the  future.  Its  silence  is  as  impressive 
as  its  few  decisive  words. 

We  can  imagine  how  Christ  would  have  drawn  the  picture 
of  retribution  had  he  followed  the  Old  Testament,  in  doing  so, 
in  its  hopeful  and  prophetic  intermingling  of  light  with  the 
darkness.  Making  the  prospect  terrific,  at  first,  beyond  all 
human  power  of  description,  to  enforce  the  duty  of  immediate 
repentance,  and  to  deter  from  sin,  then,  appealing  to  our  sense 
of  propriety,  our  magnanimity,  our  shame,  he  would  have  told 
us  how  in  the  future,  more  or  less  remote,  God  would  visit  his 
erring  and  perverse  children  with  his  remonstrances ;  how  he 
himself  would  weep  over  them  and  repeat  the  offers  of  pardon  ; 
and  in  view  of  all  this  we  can  imagine  how  he  would  expos- 
tulate. Such  a  procedure  would  accord  with  the  principles 
of  human  nature  and  of  the  divine  government,  as  illustrated 
in  the  history  of  Israel.  Is  the  Saviour  less  compassionate 
and  ready  to  forgive  than  the  God  of  the  Old  Testament  ?  —  for 
we  see  God  listening  to  catch  the  first  sigh  of  repentance  ;  and 
when  he  hears  it,  he  proclaims,  "  I  have  surely  heard 
Ephraim  bemoaning  himself  thus  :  Thou  hast  chastised  me  and 
I  was  chastised,  as  a  bullock  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke ;  turn 
thou  me  and  I  shall  be  turned ;  for  thou  art  the  Lord  my 
God."  Not  one  word  like  this  do  we  hear  from  the  lips  of 
him  who  was  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory  and  the  ex- 
press image  of  his  person.  Where  is  prophecy,  with  her  glow- 
ing tongue,  foretelling,  at  the  hour  of  captivity,  the  sinner's 
final  return  ?  The  opening  of  hell,  and  the  final  release  of 
Satan  and  his  angels,  and  of  wicked  men,  would  have  been  an 
anticipation  sublime  beyond  most  other  visions  ;  and,  if  allow- 
able, it  could  not  have  failed  to  excite  the  imagination  of  seers 
and  prophets.     But  where  are  the  Isaiahs,  stretching  their  vis- 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  135 

ion  beyond  time  and  the  captivity  of  hell,  saying,  "  Comfort 
ye,  comfort  ye,  my  people,  saith  your  God.  Speak  ye  com- 
fortably to  the  cursed,  and  say  unto  them  that  their  warfare  is 
accomplished,  that  their  iniquity  is  pardoned ;  for  they  have 
received  of  the  Lord's  hand  double  for  all  their  sins."  Can  it 
be  that  not  even  from  you,  beloved  John,  is  there  a  vision  or  a 
word  of  hope  for  sinners  after  death  ?  You  saw  the  dead, 
small  and  great,  stand  before  God,  the  books  opened,  and 
another  book,  which  is  the  book  of  life.  You  saw  the  judg- 
ment, and  the  doom ;  the  lake  of  fire  was  first  prepared  by 
casting  death  and  hell  into  it,  and  when  all  was  ready,  who.so- 
ever  was  not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life,  you  saw  him 
cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  No  syllable  of  mercy  ?  No  visit  from 
the  angel  that  talked  with  thee,  saying,  Come  up  hither,  to  see, 
from  a  higher  point,  beyond  that  lake?  Have  you  no  yearn- 
ing look  ?  —  not  even  one  slightly  musical  dark  saying  upon  the 
harp,  to  keep  us  from  suspecting  that  God  can  ever  be  impla- 
cable ?  In  the  Old  Testament  he  relents  and  repents.  "  His 
soul  was  grieved  for  the  misery  of  Israel."  "  How  shall  I 
make  thee  as  Admah !  How  shall  I  set  thee  as  Zeboim ! 
My  heart  is  turned  within  me,  my  repentings  are  kindled  to- 
gether." Is  that  Old  Testament,  which  is  represented  by 
scoffers  as  "  cruel,"  "  sanguinary,"  "  vindictive,"  actually  more 
merciful  in  its  expressions  towards  rebellious  Israel  than  the 
New  Testament  is  towards  men  who  died  in  their  sins  ? 

How  strange  that  He,  who  wept  over  Jerusalem,  could  say, 
"  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for 
the  devil  and  his  angels,"  and  let  fall  no  expressions  of  com 
miseration  or  word  of  hope,  nor  leave  some  elliptical  "  notwith 
standing,"  —  an  unfinished  sentence,  a  place  with  asterisks,  a 
chance  even  for  a  guess  that  all  would  not  be  forever  deter 
mined  for  the  wicked,  at  the  last  day. 

Mark  the  altered  language,  the  different  tone  and  manner 


136  SCRIPTURAL     ARGUMENT. 

of  the  Saviour  towards  the  wicked  in  the  other  world,  compared 
with  his  words  and  behavior  towards  our  sinful  race  when  he 
was  on  earth.  "  The  master  of  the  house  has  risen  up,  and 
shut  to  the  door."  They  knock ;  he  says,  "  I  tell  you  I  know 
you  not,  whence  ye  are.  Depart  from  me."  The  direction 
is,  "  Bind  him,  hand  and  foot."  They  "  cut  him  asunder,  and 
appoint  him  his  portion,"  not  with  candidates  for  heaven  under 
discipline,  but  "with  the  hypocrites."  He  is  "thrust  out." 
Christ  uses  the  expressions,  "  lose  his  soul ; "  "  be  cast  away  ; " 
"  salted  with  fire  ;  "  "  grind  him  to  powder ;  "  "  son  of  perdi- 
tion ; "  "  slay  them  before  me  ; "  "  seek  me  and  not  find  me  ;  " 
"  gather  the  good,  and  cast  the  bad  away ; "  "  great  gulf  fixed ;  " 
"  die  in  your  sins  ; "  "  where  I  am  ye  cannot  come."  In  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  Bible  we  meet  with  phrases  of  the  like  tenor,  — 
such  as  "  wrath  to  come ; "  "  shame  and  everlasting  contempt ;  " 
*'  torment  us  before  the  time  ; "  "  reap  corruption  ; "  "  wages  of 
sin  is  death ; "  "  more  tolerable  for  Sodom  in  the  day  of  judg- 
ment ; "  "  mist  of  darkness  forever  and  ever."  Indeed,  these 
incidental  expressions,  interwoven  every  where  throughout  the 
Bible,  assume  that  the  doctrine  of  future,  endless  punishment 
for  sin  is  a  matter  of  course.  The  common  mode  of  referring 
to  the  future,  implies  it.  "  Because  there  is  wrath,  beware 
lest  he  take  thee  away  with  his  stroke  ; "  "  then  a  great  ransom 
will  not  deliver  thee."  "  I  will  laugh  at  your  calamity,  I  will 
mock  when  your  fear  cometh."  The  numerous  passages  of 
this  tenor  do  not  suggest  any  idea  of  future  clemency. 

Paul  thus  declares  the  end  of  the  wicked :  "  The  Lord  Jesus 
shall  be  revealed  from  heaven,  with  his  mighty  angels,  in  flam- 
ing fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  knew  not  God,  and 
obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  who  shall  be 
punished  with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power,  when  he  shall  come  to 
be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  admired  in  all  them  that  believe, 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  137 

for  our  testimony  among  you  was  believed,  in  that  day."  That 
this  does  not  apply  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  as  the  Pa- 
pists and  some  Protestants  would  have  us  think,  appears  from 
the  next  chapter,  in  which  the  Thessalonians  are  told  that  "  that 
day  "  is  not  "  at  hand,"  because  the  "  man  of  sin  "  was  first  to  be 
revealed. 

Then  Peter  follows  him,  and  says,  "  But  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  which  are  now,  by  the  same  word  are  kept  in  store,  re- 
served unto  fire  against  the  day  of  judgment  and  perdition  of 
ungodly  men." 

Thus,  while  the  Bible  satisfies  us  that  the  redemption  made 
by  Christ  is  a  final  effort  to  save  men,  we  do  not  wonder  that 
those  who  reject  the  Godhead  of  Christ  and  his  sacrifice  for 
sin,  reject  also  the  idea  of  endless  punishment.  There  is  no 
adequate  necessity  for  a  divine  Saviour  with  his  vicarious  sac- 
rifice^, if  there  be  no  such  penalty  annexed  to  the  law  of  God. 
Every  man  is  then  his  own  redeemer,  either  by  obedience  or 
by  suffering. 

But  the  evangelical  believer  looks  into  the  manger  and  upon 
the  cross,  and  sees  there  his  God  incarnate.  He  sees,  in  that 
Christ,  a  sacrifice  for  his  sins.  The  world  laugh  him  to  scorn. 
They  demand  whether  he  believes  that  his  God  is  dying ;  and 
every  form  of  intellectual  ridicule  is  poured  upon  him.  He 
steadfastly  maintains  that " the  Word  was  God,"  that "  the  Woid 
was  made  flesh,"  that  this  incarnate  Word  was  on  the  cross,  "  a 
ransom  for  many,"  "  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his  blood," 
his  sufferings  a  substitute  for  the  sinner's  punishment.  The 
believer  looks  to  find  some  necessity  for  such  an  incarnation, 
and  for  the  sacrificial  death  of  such  a  being.  He  cannot  find 
it  in  the  need  of  example,  moral  suasion,  or  representation  of 
the  divine  interest  in  him  ;  but,  in  the  declaration  that  Christ 
was  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many,  he  sees  the  appro- 
priateness of  the  incarnation  to  give  a  divine  worth  and  eflleacy 
12* 


138  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT. 

to  sufferings  which  are  to  atone  for  sin.  There  is  no  revela- 
tion to  be  compared  with  this :  "  God  was  manifest  in  the 
flesh,"  and,  he  "  was  manifested  to  take  away  our  sins."  By 
all  the  methods  of  imagery,  symbolism,  predictions,  and 
most  minute,  pathetic  delineations  of  his  coming,  his  life, 
death,  and  resurrection,  by  appeals  from  his  own  lips,  and  those 
of  men  "  in  Christ's  stead ; "  by  that  perpetual  memorial  of 
him,  and  of  his  sacrifice,  the  Lord's  supper,  men  are  admon- 
ished, and,  "  as  though  God  did  beseech  them,"  urged  to  ac- 
cept pardon  through  this  infinite  provision  made  for  the  for- 
giveness of  sin.  This  produces  the  effect,  generally,  upon  the 
mind,  of  a  last  effort. 

It  might  have  been  supposed  that  the  work  of  Christ  would 
suffice  for  the  present  dispensation,  and  that  men  rejecting  or 
neglecting  it  would,  in  a  future  state,  be  approached  by  those 
influences  which  belong  peculiarly  to  the  work  of  the  third 
person  in  the  Godhead.  But  Christ  said,  "  It  is  expedient  for 
you  that  I  go  away  ;  for,  if  I  go  not  away,  the  Comforter  will 
not  come  unto  you  ;  but  if  I  depart,  I  will  send  him  unto  you. 
And  when  he  is  come,  he  will  reprove  the  world  of  sin,  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment."  Something  more  than  or- 
dinary divine  influence  is  meant  here  by  the  Comforter ;  for 
the  Saviour's  being  in  the  world  would  not  of  course  keep 
divine  influence  out  of  it,  or  prevent  the  disciples  from  receiv- 
ing comfort  in  God.  A  special  divine  agency  is  here  recog- 
nized, and,  by  all  the  laws  of  language,  a  special,  divine,  per- 
sonal agent.  His  object  is  to  reprove  the  world  of  sin,  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment.  All  which  is  implied  in  the 
idea  of  moral  omnipotence  is  thus  made  to  bear  upon  the 
hearts  and  minds  of  men,  to  effect  their  reconciliation  to  God, 
through  Christ. 

Resistance  to  these  efforts  in  a  certain  way,  it  is  declared, 
shall  have  the  effect,  however  long  a  time  before  death  it  may 


ENDLESS    RETRIBUTION.  139 

be  made,  to  consign  the  sinner  to  hopeless  condemnation  ;  for 
"  whosoever  speaketh  against  the  Holy  Ghost  it  shall  not  be 
forgiven  him,  neither  in  this  world,  neither  in  the  world  to 
come." 

It  does  not  seem  easy  to  explain  how  any  one  who  "  hath 
never  forgiveness,"  "  neither  in  this  world,  neither  in  the  world 
to  come,"  is  to  be  saved  ;  nor  by  what  moral  distinctions  it 
can  be  made  to  appear  that  some  who  commit  one  particular 
sin  are  justly  condemned  to  a  hopeless,  unforgiven  state,  and 
that  all  the  rest  of  mankind  are  to  be  restored.  The  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  unpardonable  sin  against  him, 
convince  us  that  the  effort  of  mercy  to  save  men  ends  with 
life.  Such  words  as  these  from  Christ,  "hath  never  forgive- 
ness, but  is  in  danger  of  eternal  damnation,"  admit  of  no  appeal. 

In  this  connection  let  it  be  observed  that  evangelical  Chris- 
tians regard  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  of  equal  impor- 
tance with  the  death  of  Christ,  and  as  essential  a  part  of 
the  work  of  redemption.  It  is  from  sin  that  we  are  to  be 
redeemed ;  it  is  to  holiness  that  we  are  to  be  restored ;  hell 
and  heaven  are  a  consummation,  respectively,  of  sin  and  holi- 
ness. But  we  notice  that  those  who  reject  the  idea  of  future 
punishment  dwell  much  on  sin  and  holiness  as  being  the  sole 
objects  of  redemption,  irrespective  of  the  future  state  to  which 
they  lead.  Olshausen  says,  "  The  Scriptures  know  no  such 
pretended  divestment  of  all  egoism,  that  man  needs  as  mo- 
tives neither  fear  nor  hope,  whether  of  damnation  or  eternal 
happiness  ;  —  and  rightly ;  for  it  (i.  e.  this  notion)  exhibits  itself 
either  as  fanatical  error,  as  in  Madame  Guyon,  or,  which 
is  doubtless  most  common,  as  indifference  and  torpidity."^ 
However  some  may  regard  it  as  a  narrow  and  selfish  thing  to 
make  so  much,  as  evangelical  Christians  do,  of  "  salvation " 
and  "  safety,"  we  find  that  the  New  Testament  sets  us  the 

1  Commentary,  v.  302. 


140  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT. 

example.  Its  chief  burden  is  holiness,  likeness  to  God ;  but 
it  appeals  to  our  love  of  happiness  and  dread  of  pain  ;  senti- 
mental philosophy  would  substitute  for  these  instincts  a  per- 
ception of  the  "  good,  the  beautiful,  and  the  true ;  "  the  gos- 
pel insists  on  these,  but  the  way  to  reach  them  is  through  the 
natural  constitution  which  God  has  given  us.  Inspiration 
does  not  disdain  to  say,  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave 
his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should 
not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life."  "  He  that  believeth 
shall  be  saved,  and  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned." 
"  We  shall  be  saved  from  wrath  through  him."  "  Who  have 
fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  on  the  hope  set  before  us."  "  What 
shall  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose 
his  own  soul ;  or  what  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his 
soul  ?  "  The  attempt  to  show  that  all  this  is  unworthy  of  our 
"  noble  aspirations,"  is  only  professing  to  be  wise  ;  but  "  the  fool- 
ishness of  God  is  wiser  than  men."  The  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  applying  the  redemption  by  Christ  to  the  souls  of 
men  has  for  its  object  not  only  to  save  them  from  sin,  but 
from  its  "  wages,"  which  "  is  death." 

All  having  failed,  and  men  going  from  under  the  concentrat- 
ed influences  of  redeeming  mercy  into  a  future  state,  if  then 
the  God  who  has  provided  such  a  plan  of  redemption,  is  to 
meet  them,  and,  rather  than  have  them  perish,  abandon  all  his 
terms,  and  admit  them  to  heaven  upon  their  own  conditions, 
rather  than  see  them  suffer ;  if  he  who  became  flesh  and  died 
for  them,  will  then  consent  that  punishment  shall  try  to  effect 
that  which  love  and  earthly  discipline,  together,  failed  to  accom- 
plish, and  punishment  proves  to  be  the  power  of  God  and  the 
wisdom  of  God  unto  salvation,  and  sinners  will  therefore  have 
more  powerful  means  of  grace  in  hell  than  under  the  gospel, 
we,  for  our  part,  need  another  revelation  to  inform  us  of  it, 
and  then  to  explain  its  consistency  with  our  present  Bible. 


ENDLESS     RETRIB  tJTION.  141 

III.  The  fall  of  angels,  and  of  man,  is  a  con- 
firmatory   PROOF    OF   FUTURE    ENDLESS    RETRIBUTION. 

This  will  of  course  have  weight  only  with  those  who  be- 
lieve in  the  existence  and  fall  of  angels,  and  in  the  fall  of 
man.  To  prove  either  of  these  here,  would  be  out  of  place ; 
and,  indeed,  the  necessity  of  proving  them  would  show  that 
every  thing  which  has  thus  far  been  said  in  this  article  is  su- 
perfluous, because  it  takes  for  granted  many  things  generally 
believed,  which  rest,  however,  on  the  same  kind  of  evidence 
with  the  existence  of  angels  and  their  fall.  The  apostles, 
the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  I  have  not  thought  it  necessary  to 
prove  had  a  real  existence,  and  that  they  were  not  merely 
personified  principles  of  good  and  evil.  If  the  reader  be  one 
who  rejects  the  doctrine  of  fallen  angels,  and  of  the  fall  of 
man,  he  will  read  what  is  here  said  merely  as  showing  the 
way  in  which  those  who  believe  these  things  are  confirmed,  by 
them,  in  their  belief  of  endless  retribution.  Peter  says,  "  God 
spared  not  the  angels  that  sinned,  but  cast  them  down  to  hell, 
and  delivered  them  into  chains  of  darkness,  to  be  reserved 
unto  judgment."^  Jude  says,  "  And  the  angels  which  kept  not 
their  first  estate,  but  left  their  own  habitation,  he  hath  reserved 
in  everlasting  chains  under  darkness  unto  the  judgment  of  the 
great  day."  ^ 

If  God  did  not  keep  angels  from  falling,  we  are  not  con- 
strained to  think  that  he  will  restore  them.  If  he  will  here- 
after reinstate  them  by  a  direct  act  of  power,  the  same  power 
could  have  kept  them  from  falling,  with  no  greater  interfer- 
ence with  their  free  agency.  If  he  allowed  them  to  fall 
with  a  view  to  some  great  good  in  their  natures,  suflTering 
them,  in  the  progress  of  their  experience,  to  ruin  this  world, 
and  ^ring  in  such  a  fearful  plague  as  sin  has  been  to  our  race, 
all  to  be  compensated  for  in  the  great  sweep  of  ages  by  this 
1  2  Peter  ii.  4.  2  Jude  6. 


142  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT. 

beneficial  knowledge  of  evil,  we  are  led  to  the  conclusioa  that 
sin  and  suffering  are  the  necessary  means  of  the  greatest  good. 
But  what  manner  of  Supreme  Being  have  we  here  for  a  Uni- 
versalist  to .  love  and  worship  ?  His  government,  it  would 
seem,  cannot  proceed  without  suffering  a  host  of  angels,  falling 
from  their  thrones  in  heaven,  to  pass  through  centuries  of  sin 
and  mischief.     This  seems  neither  benevolent  nor  wise. 

In  the  exercise  of  their  liberty  we  are  told  that  angels  kept 
not  their  first  estate,  but  left  their  own  habitation,  and  that 
God  hath  reserved  them  in  everlasting  chains  under  darkness 
unto  the  judgment  of  the  great  day.  If  they  are  finally  to 
be  restored,  God  will  restore  them,  or  they  will  come  back  of 
themselves.  If  God  foresaw  that  he  must  finally  restore  them, 
he  would  have  kept  them  from  falling,  unless  sin  and  misery 
are,  under  his  government,  the  means  of  the  greatest  good. 
If  so,  this  may  be  one  of  the  cases  in  which  if  a  little  is  good, 
more  is  better ;  and  perhaps  the  best  interests  of  the  universe 
will  be  promoted  by  protracting  this  sin  and  suffering  indefi- 
nitely. 

It  is  a  wholly  gratuitous  assumption  that  fallen  angels  and 
men  will  at  last,  of  their  own  accord,  repent.  Who  has  trav- 
elled so  far  as  to  know  this  ?  What  reason  have  we  to  think 
that  hell  will  finally  convince  and  persuade  men?  All  our 
present  knowledge  respecting  it  contradicts  this  expectation. 
Satan  and  his  angels  have  tried  its  redeeming  power,  if  it  has 
any,  for  at  least  six  thousand  years.  We  see  no  premises, 
therefore,  on  which  to  base  the  assertion  that  men  will  at  last 
universally  repent.  It  does  not  appear  that  being  in  torment, 
even,  will  have  any  better  effect,  forever,  on  men,  than  it  seems 
to  have  had  on  "  the  rich  man,"  whose  only  prayer  to  Abra- 
ham was  for  mitigation  of  pain,  and  for  a  warning  to  be  sent 
to  his  brethren.  He  seems  to  think  that  if  one  went  to  them 
from  tl  e  dead,  they  would  repent.     Why  had  he  not  repented 


ENDLESS    RETRIBUTION.  143 

himself,  among  the  dead  ?  Surely  the  very  experience  of  hell 
itself  must  be  a  more  powerful  means  of  good  than  a  mere 
apparition.  But  as  suffering  had  not  made  him  penitent,  it 
must  be  that  it  has  no  such  effect  after  death.  Hell  seems  a 
very  cruel  means  of  effecting  the  reformation  of  sinners,  when 
we  think  that,  if  employed  for  this  purpose  through  such  great 
periods  of  punishment,  it  will  be  employed  by  Him  who  so 
easily  converted  Saul  of  Tarsus,  and  the  woman  that  was  a 
sinner,  and  Zaccheus,  and  the  thief  on  the  cross.  This  is,  to 
my  own  mind,  one  of  the  insuperable  objections  to  the  theory 
of  future  disciplinary  punishment.  I  can  readily  yield  my  as- 
sent to  the  declaration  that  "  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son 
shall  not  see  life  ; "  it  does  no  violence  to  my  understanding 
that  those  who  refuse  salvation  by  Christ,  when  notified  that 
their  refusal  will  be  fatal,  should  reap  forever  that  which  they 
sowed,  and  continue  hereafter  to  sow  that  which  they  reap, 
and  thus  without  end.  I  read  this  in  the  Bible.  I  have  no 
controversy  with  it.  But  that  a  human  soul  should  need 
ages  in  hell,  with  Satan  and  his  angels,  to  be  made  contrite,  is 
as  contrary  to  all  analogy  as  it  is  destitute  of  scriptural  proof. 
Besides,  if  God  does  all  in  this  world  which  he  can  do  without 
destroying  free  agency,  to  convert  certain  men,  it  is  difficult  to 
see  how  the  use  of  superior  power  in  hell  can  fail  to  destroy 
it  utterly.  If  God  does  not  use  all  proper  means  here  to  save 
men,  how  is  he  infinitely  merciful  ?  But  if  here  he  goes  to 
the  very  boundaries  of  their  free  agency,  which,  it  is  said,  he 
never  passes  over,  and  yet  fails  to  subdue  them,  it  is  gratuitous 
to  say  that  he  will  certainly  succeed  any  better  hereafter. 

How  much  longer  than  these  six  thousand  years  past,  an- 
gels are  to  suffer,  we  cannot  tell;  but  the  consignment  of 
wicked  men  at  the  last  day  to  such  company  as  that  of  "  the 
devil  and  his  angels,"  looks  fearfully  unlike  a  remedial  measure 
for  angel  or  man. 


144  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT. 

The  last  sentence  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  any  expecta- 
tion, or  intention,  on  the  part  of  Christ,  that  those  on  whom  it 
is  pronounced  will  return.  Otherwise,  he  would  not  have  pro- 
nounced them  cursed.  Probationers  are  not  accursed.  They 
are  prisoners  of  hope.  Every  thing  in  the  last  words  of  Christ 
to  the  wicked  is  as  final  as  language  can  make  it. 

But  if  the  wicked  are  to  be  punished  until  they  repent,  we 
say,  punishment  thus  far  has  not  reformed  the  original  inhab- 
itants of  hell.  It  is  incumbent  on  those  who  advocate  final 
restoration  on  this  ground,  to  prove  that  punishment  will  at 
last  have  a  restorative  power,  or  they  must  show  how  long 
the  wicked  must  sin  and  suffer  to  make  it  wrong  to  punish 
them  any  more,  even  if  they  continue  to  sin. 

IV.  The  terms  used  with  regard  to  the  resur- 
rection OP  the  dead,  are  proofs  of  endless  retri- 
bution. 

In  the  "  Child's  Catechism,"  by  Rev.  0.  A.  Skinner,  I  find 
the  following  :  —  ^ 

"  Q.    Will  sin  exist  in  the  resurrection  ? 

"  A.  Now  this  I  say,  brethren,  that  flesh  and  blood  cannot 
inherit  the  kingdom  of  God ;  neither  doth  corruption  inherit 
incorruption.^ 

"  Q.  What  does  the  Saviour  say  respecting  our  condition 
when  raised  ? 

"  A.  Neither  can  they  die  any  more ;  for  they  are  equal 
unto  the  angels  ;  and  are  the  children  of  God,  being  children 
of  the  resurrection."  ^ 

Here,  it  will  be  seen,  it  is  assumed  that  Christ  refers  to  all 
the  dead,  and  that  all,  when  they  are  raised,  will  be  the  chil- 
dren of  God.  This,  it  is  understood,  is  the  prevailing  belief 
of  Universalists. 

1  Page  24.  2  1  Cor.  xv.  50.  3  Mark  xii.  25. 


ENDLESS    RETRIBUTION.  145 

We  read  that  "  no  Scripture  is  of  any  private  interpreta- 
tion ; "  in  other  words,  that  the  meaning  must  be  ascertained 
by  comparing  the  Scriptures  one  with  another.  The  parallel 
passage  in  Luke  reads,  "  But  they  that  shall  be  accounted 
worthy  to  obtain  that  world  and  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead,  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage  ;  neither  can 
they  die  any  more,  for  they  are  equal  unto  the  angels  ;  and 
are  the  children  of  God,  being  the  children  of  the  resurrec- 
tion." 1 

Our  esteemed  friend,  Mr.  Skinner,  it  seems  to  me,  is  led 
into  a  mistake  by  regarding  the  expression,  "  children  of  the 
resurrection,"  as  meaning  all  who  have  part  in  the  resurrec- 
tion ;  and  since  Jesus  declares  "  the  children  of  the  resur- 
rection "  to  be  synonymous  with  "  children  of  God,"  Mr.  S. 
naturally  concludes  that  all  who  rise  from  the  dead  will  be  the 
children  of  God. 

Now,  allowing  me,  for  the  sake  of  the  argument,  that  the 
wicked  are  raised  from  the  dead  in  their  sins,  they  are  not,  in 
the  scriptural  sense,  "  children  of  the  resurrection."  Rising 
from  the  dead  does  not  make  us  "  children  of  the  resur- 
rection." Being  the  offspring  of  God  does  not  make  us  the 
"  children  of  God  ; "  the  wicked  would  not  "  come  forth  to 
everlasting  life,"  though  coming  forth  to  live  forever.  The 
term  "  children  of  the  resurrection,"  connects  with  itself  the 
further  idea  of  being  qualified  for  heaven,  —  "  counted  worthy 
to  obtain  that  world."  This  is  confirmed,  it  seems  to  me, 
beyond  all  question,  by  one  word  of  the  apostle  Paul,  "  I 
^  count  all  things  but  loss,  &c.,  if  hy  any  means  1  might  attain 
unto  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.^^  ^  If,  on  being  raised  from 
the  dead,  all  men  are  to  be  fit  for  heaven,  Paul  need  not  have 
used  such  "  means"  to  "attain"  to  it,  nor,  indeed,  any  "means" 
whatever ;  for  he  was  sure  to  be  raised,  like  the  rest  of  man- 
i  Luke  XX  35,  36.  2  Phii.  iii.  S-U. 

13 


146  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT. 

kind.  Adopt  the  interpretation  just  given,  viz.,  that  to  be 
accounted  worthy  to  obtain  the  resurrection  from  the  dead 
includes  the  idea  of  a  distinguishing  fitness  for  heaven,  body 
and  soul  reunited,  and  we  can  see  why  Paul  should  say  he 
was  willing  to  count  all  things  but  loss  to  attain  unto  it,  —  ris- 
ing from  the  dead  with  his  perfected  nature,  body  and  soul 
being,  in  his  view,  the  consummation  of  preparedness,  in  every 
respect,  for  heaven.  If  such  be  Paul's  meaning  of  "  attaining 
unto  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,"  the  wicked,  in  their  sins, 
though  raised  from  the  dead,  do  not  attain  unto  the  resurrec- 
tion, and  they  are  not,  therefore,  in  the  Saviour's  sense,  "  chil- 
dren of  the  resurrection." 

The  Sadducees  had  said,  "  Whose  wife  shall  she  be  in  the 
resurrection  ?  "  I  will  paraphrase  the  reply  of  Christ  accord- 
ing to  my  interpretation  of  his  words  :  "  It  is,  of  course,  no 
use  for  me  to  answer  your  question  on  the  supposition  that  the 
woman  and  her  seven  husbands  are  not  among  the  saved. 
They  that  have  done  evil  '  shall  come  forth,'  as  I  once  said,  'to 
the  resurrection  of  damnation.'  Conjugal  relationships  among 
them,  or  any  thing  relating  to  happiness,  are  not  supposable. 
Your  inquiry,  therefore,  relates,  of  course,  to  those  who  are 
supposed  to  be  in  a  condition  to  admit  of  friendly  and  loving 
relationships.  As  to  them,  I  say,  that  being  accounted  worthy 
to  obtain  that  world,  and  afterwards  such  a  resurrection  as  is 
worthy  of  the  name,  they  stand  in  no  need  of  earthly  joys, 
and  as  they  die  no  more,  the  necessity  for  reproduction  ceases ; 
they  are  equal  unto  the  angels,  and  are  the  children  of  God, 
being  in  distinction  from  the  rest  of  the  risen  dead,  '  children 
of  the  resurrection.'  " 

This  meaning  of  the  phrase  is  also  illustrated  by  the 
expression,  "  children  of  this  world."  Good  people  are,  in 
one  sense,  "  children  of  this  world,"  equally  with  the  bad ;  that 
is,   they  are    natives  of   this  world  ;  and  yet  we  read,  "  the 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  147 

children  of  this  world  are  wiser  in  their  generation  than  the 
children  of  light. ^* 

Thus,  the  good  only  are  "children  of  the  resurrection," 
though  all  are  raised,  as  the  wicked  only  are  "  children  of  this 
world,"  though  bad  and  good  live  here  together." 

Paul  said  before  Felix,  and  declared  that  the  Jews  "  them- 
selves also  allow"  it,  (for  the  Sadducees  were  small  in  number, 
though  high  in  rank  and  power,)  "  that  there  shall  be  a  resur- 
rection of  the  dead,  both  of  the  just  and  unjust  J' ^ 

The  idea  advaiiced  by  Mr.  Skinner  and  others,  that  all  who 
are  raised  from  the  dead  are  children  of  God,  grows,  there- 
fore, out  of  his  mistake,  as  I  view  it,  in  interpreting  the  ex- 
pression "  children  of  the  resurrection  "  to  mean  all  the  risen 
dead.  Enough  has  been  said  in  explanation  of  the  opposite, 
and,  as  we  believe,  the  more  scriptural  sense  of  the  phrase. 
It  seems  to  us  unaccountable  that  any  should  adopt  the  idea 
that  all  who  are  raised  from  the  dead  will  be  the  children  of 
God,  if  they  have  ever  read  the  parables  of  Christ  m  Matt, 
xiii.  How  does  he  there  say  it  shall  be  in  the  end  of  the 
world  ?  "  So  shall  it  be  in  the  end  of  the  world.  The  Son  of 
man  shall  send  forth  his  angels,  and  they  shall  gather  out  of 
his  kingdom  all  things  that  oiFend,  and  them  that  do  iniquity, 
and  shall  cast  them  into«a  furnace  of  fire,  there  shall  be  wjiil- 
ing  and  gnashing  of  teeth."  The  same  words  are  repeated  at 
the  close  of  the  parable  of  the  net.  Surely  there  will  be 
some  of  the  risen  dead  who  will  not  be  "  children  of  the  resur- 
rection," because  they  will  not  be  the  "  children  of  God." 

I  proceed  now  to  the  argument  to  be  derived  from  the 
declarations  of  Christ  in  connection  with  the  resurrection. 
Christ  said,  "  The  hour  is  coming,  and  now  is,  when  the  dead 
shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  they  that  hear 
shall  live."     This  he  said  to  illustrate  his  commission  to  bestow 

1  Acts  xxiv.  15. 


148  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT. 

spiritnal  life  on  those  who  are  dead  in  sin.  Then  he  proceeds 
at  once  to  assert  a  power  in  confirmation  of  this,  in  the  way 
of  miracle.  "Marvel  not  at  this" — (at  my  power  to  re- 
generate the  soul),  "for  the  hour  is  coming"  (notice  that  he 
does  not  here  add  —  "  and  now  is")  "  when  all  that  are  in  their 
graves  shall  hear  his  voice  and  shall  come  forth,  they  that  have 
done  good  to  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  they  that  have  done 
evil  to  the  resurrection  of  damnation." 

"  All  that  are  in  their  graves  "  includes  all  who  die,  from  Abel 
to  the  last  victim  of  death  and  the  grave.  "  They  that  have 
done  evil,"  of  course,  then,  are  there.  Now,  it  appears  that 
they  who  have  done  evil  will  not  have  atoned,  in  the  interme- 
diate state,  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body,  because  the  Saviour 
says  they  will  come  forth  "  to  the  resurrection  of  damnation." 
But  some  of  them  will  have  been  for  a  very  long  time  in  the 
separate  state.  Wherever  the  rich  man  went  at  death,  he  was 
"  in  torment ; "  there  were  men  before  his  day,  and  there 
have  been  men  since  his  time,  who  were  as  wicked  as  he. 
But  can  sin  be  punished  "  in  torment "  so  long  ?  Peter  tells  us 
that  there  were  "spirits"  in  his  day  "in  prison,"  to  whom  Christ 
preached  by  the  Spirit  in  the  days  of  Noah,  —  that  is  at  least 
three  thousand  years  before.  That  is  a  long  time  for  sin  to 
be  punished,  or  even  for  a  sinner  k)  be  detained,  under  the 
government  of  a  good  God.  Now,  these  are  yet  to  "  come 
forth  unto  the  resurrection  of  damnation."  If  sin  can  be  so 
punished  by  the  Infinite  Father,  and  if  bodies  are  to  be  added 
to  these  souls,  notwithstanding  this  already  protracted  experi- 
ence of  misery,  and  if  they,  body  and  soul,  are  at  the  last  day 
to  be  doomed  to  "  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels," 
on  what  principles  can  all  this  be  explained  ?  Does  sin 
merit  such  punishment,  as  the  Bible  declares  has  already  been 
inflicted?  'Would  an  earthly  parent  punish  thus  ?'  Is  there 
not  enough,  in  this  ascertained  infliction  of  punishment  for  sin, 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  149 

to  destroy  all  confidence  in  the'  government  of  God,  unless  sin 
deserves  it  all  ?  And  if  it  deserves  all  this,  we  know  not  how 
much  more  it  may  deserve. 

It  will  be  observed,  in  addition,  that  Christ  does  not  tell  us, 
they  that  have  done  evil,  hut  by  the  power  of  discipline,  shall 
have  repented,  shall  come  forth  to  the  resurrection  of  life,  and 
the  incorrigible  to  the  resurrection  of  a  further  discipline. 
How  is  this  ?  Has  not  the  long  interval  between  death  and 
the  resurrection  resulted  in  the  salvation  of  any  ?  Strange 
that  some  of  the  more  hopeful  of  the  wicked  should  not  have 
availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  between  death  and  the 
judgment,  to  confess  and  repent. 

It  is  contrary  to  all  analogy  that  it  should  be  necessary  to 
punish  men  so  long  before  they  repent.  On  the  deck,  or  in 
the  rigging,  of  a  burning  vessel  at  sea,  when  death  is  abso- 
lutely certain,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  it  does  not  take  a 
wicked  man  very  long  to  decide  with  what  feelings  he  will 
meet  his  God.  When  the  soul,  after  death,  finds  itself  on  the 
way  to  hell,  can  we  suppose  that  an  opportunity  to  escape,  by 
repentance,  if  it  were  offered,  would  be  rejected  ?  If  the 
only  object  of  God  is  to  reclaim  the  sinner,  he  will  release 
him  the  first  moment  that  he  repents.  It  is  so  in  this  world. 
"  And  when  he  was  yet  a  great  way  off,  his  father  saw  him 
and  had  compassion,  and  ran,  and  fell  on  his  neck,  and  k-issed 
him."  If  the  soul,  at  the  sight  of  its  punishment,  relents  and 
agrees  to  the  terms  of  pardon,  does  a  Universalist  believe 
that  God  will  say,  "  No  ;  you  must  suffer  in  hell  for  your  sins, 
even  though  you  have  now  repented "  ?  Would  an  earthly 
father  inflict  punishment  in  such  a  case?  But  the  Bible 
represents  the  wicked  to  have  been  in  hell  from  the  time  of 
their  death  till  the  resurrection,  and  at  the  resurrection  they 
must  yet  come  forth  "  to  the  resurrection  of  damnation,"  It 
is  incredible  that  so  much  time  and  so  rxwich,  suffering  should 
13- 


150  ^    SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT. 

be  necessary  to  make  sinners  repent.  Either  they  repent,  and 
God  still  continues  to  punish  them  "  ages  on  ages  ; "  or  they 
do  not  repent  between  death  and  the  resurrection,  nor  at 
the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,  nor  in  the  immediate  prospect 
of  going  away  to  the  society  and  the  punishment  of  the  devil 
and  his  angels.  If  a  soul  which  is  finally  to  be  reclaimed, 
can  pass  through  such  experience  and  not  repent,  it  requires 
larger  hope  and  faith  than  is  common  to  men  to  expect  that 
future  punishment  can  be  a  means  of  salvation. 

That  the  guilt  of  a  finite  creature,  man  or  angel,  should 
merit  thousands  of  years  in  hell,  or  that  thousands  of  years 
should  be  requisite  to  bring  him  to  his  right  mind,  no  more 
accords  with  our  nattiral  feelings,  nor  with  what  we  call 
"  reason,"  than  does  the  idea  of  endless  punishment.  But  if 
the  Bible  conveys  any  thing  intelligibly  to  our  understanding, 
it  teaches  that  angels  and  men  have  been  subjected  to  punish- 
ment for  a  longer  period  than  is  "  reasonable  "  for  mere  dis- 
cipline. 

Surely,  the  end  of  future  punishment  cannot  be  merely  the 
recovery  of  the  sinner.  Were  it  so,  moreover,  it  would  follow 
that  sin  injures  no  one  but  the  sinner  himself.  It  violates  no 
duties  towards  God,  no  interests  of  fellow-creatures.  But  the 
law  of  God  refutes  this  ;  the  threatenings  against  those  who 
cause  others  to  fall,  and  the  frequent  punishment  of  men  who 
made  others  to  sin,  prove  that  the  punishment  of  the  sinner 
will  have  some  other  end  than  his  reformation. 

It  being  frequently  argued  that  the  sins  of  a  finite  creature 
cannot  be  punished  forever,  because  a  finite  creature  cannot 
merit  infinite  punishment,  it  will  be  enough  to  meet  this,  in 
passing,  with  a  single  remark,  viz. :  That,  if  this  be  so,  then, 
even  if  the  whole  universe  should  sin  forever,  the  whole 
universe  cannot  be  punished  forever,  because  the  whole  uni- 
verse, after  all,  is  but  finite. 


ENDLESS    RETRIBUTION.  151 

V.  The  Scriptures  teach  that  the  law  of  god 
HAS  A  curse:  —  which  it  has  not,  if  future  punish- 
ment be  disciplinary. 

The  punishment,  however  long  and  severe,  which  shall 
result  in  restoring  a  soul  to  holiness  and  an  endless  heaven, 
under  the  kind  and  faithful  administration  of  its  heavenly 
Father,  it  would  be  unsuitable  to  call  "  a  curse."  The  theory 
of  Restorationists  is,  that  mercy,  having  failed  to  recover  sin- 
ners in  this  world,  will  go  on  hereafter,  in  the  same  direction, 
with  more  vigorous  methods,  till  it  succeeds,  —  the  same  un- 
dying, unfaltering  love  pursuing  the  wanderer,  which  here 
never  ceased  to  plead.  Hereafter  it  will  mingle  stronger  in- 
gredients, and  cure  the  disease  of  sin.  What  "  curse  "  there  is 
in  such  loving  kindness,  it  is  hard  to  see.  In  this  world  we 
experience  just  this  treatment, — 

"  Afflictions  sorted,  anguish  of  all  sizes , 
Fine  nets  and  stratagems  to  catch  us  in ; " 

and  sometimes  all  the  waves  and  billows  go  over  us.  Men 
are  stripped  of  property,  family,  health,  reputation,  and  finally 
they  turn  to  the  hand  that  smites  them,  grateful  that  God  did 
not  spare  the  rod  for  their  crying ;  and  they  testify  that  through 
the  loss  of  all  things  they  have  gained  eternal  bliss.  Do  they 
call  their  afflictions  their  "  curse  "  ?  Have  they  suffered  "  the 
curse  of  the  law  "  ?  All  the  ordinary  medicines  having  failed, 
the  physician  brings  some  extreme  remedy  and  saves  the  pa- 
tient. Was  that  a  "  curse  "  ?  He  amputates  the  limb,  and 
thus  prolongs  a  precious  life.  Did  he  "  curse "  the  man,  in 
doing  so?  We  must,  therefore,  expunge  large  parts  of  the 
Bible,  if  future  punishment  be  only  a  wholesome  discipline. 
"  Christ  has  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being 
made  a  curse  for  us."  No,  he  has  only  redeemed  us  from  a 
further  dispensation  of  infinite  meri-y,  if  punishment  be  only 


152  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT. 

for  discipline  ;  indeed,  he  prevents  the  bestovvment  of  a  greater 
proof  of  love  than  he  himself  gave  us  in  dying  on  the  cross ; 
for  if,  after  all  his  love  for  us,  he  will  persist  in  disciplining  us 
in.  hell,  willing  to  see  us  suffer  that  he  may  finally  save  us, 
"  herein  is  love."  The  cross  is  not  the  climax  of  his  love,  but 
the  lake  of  fire.  How  it  is  in  any  sense  a  curse,  we  fail  to  see 
Christians  here  never  look  upon  the  means  of  sanctification  as 
"  the  curse  of  the  law."  The  sinner  who  by  the  severest  dis- 
cipline is  brought  to  Christ,  feels  that  he  thereby  escapes  "  the 
curse  of  the  law."  But  we  cannot  find  that  curse,  neither  hero 
nor  hereafter,  unless  there  be  punishment  which  is  not  intended 
for  tlie  recovery  of  the  sinner. 

VI.  The  sentence  passed  upon  the  wicked  indis- 
criminately, FORBIDS  THE  IDEA  OF  DISCIPLINE  IN  FU- 
TURE    PUNISHMENT. 

Among  the  impenitent  at  death  and  in  eternity,  there  is,  of 
course,  great  variety  of  character.  If  the  object  of  future  pun- 
ishment be  to  reclaim  them,  the  wise  and  considerate  methods 
of  earthly  discipline  seem  to  be  utterly  discarded  after  death. 
We  hardly  need  to  be  reminded  how  indiscriminate  are  the 
threatenings  which  q,re  said  to  be  inflicted  on  the  wicked.  The 
last  sentence  evidently  regards  none  of  them  as  probationers ; 
there  is  no  forbearance  in  it  towards  the  more  hopeful ;  they 
are  all  addressed  as  "ye  cursed."  We  are  considering  the 
testimony  of  the  Scriptures.  What  evidence  do  they  afford 
of  any  discrimination  in  the  treatment  of  the  finally  impenitent, 
notwithstanding  the  vast  variety  which  must  exist  among 
them  ?  I  answer,  Not  any.  But  the  following  passages,  among 
others,  teach  plainly  that  the  doom  of  the  wicked  will  be  indis- 
criminate, without  regard  to  hopeful  diversities  of  character. 

"  And  I  saw  the  dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before  God, 
and  the  books  were  opened,  and  another  book  was  opened, 


ENDLESS    RETRIBUTION.  153 

which  is  the  book  of  life  ;  and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  the 
things  which  were  written  in  the  book,  according  to  their 
works.  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in  it,  and 
death  and  hell  delivered  up  the  dead  which  were  in  them ; 
and  they  were  judged  every  man  according  to  their  works." 
Then  follows  this  declaration :  "  And  death  and  hell  were  cast 
into  the  lake  of  fire.  This  is  the  second  death."  Some  say, 
death  and  hell  are  annihilated.  But  this  is  not  the  idea  in- 
tended, unless  the  wicked  also  are  then  to  be  annihilated  ;  for 
the  next  verse,  concluding  the  subject,  says,  "  And  whosoever 
was  not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life  was  cast  into  the  lake 
of  fire."  The  obvious  meaning  is,  Death  and  hell,  whatever 
they  represent,  will  then  be  added  to  the  lake  of  fire,  whatever 
that  is,  as  new  ingredients,  and  to  constitute  "  the  second 
death,"  and  as  a  final  gathering  together  of  all  the  elements 
of  sorrow  and  pain,  with  all  the  wicked,  into  one  place.  With 
this  passage  agree  the  words  of  Daniel :  "  And  many  of  them 
that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  ever- 
lasting life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt." 
The  parables  of  Christ  relating  to  the  end  of  the  world  recog- 
nize only  two  great  divisions  of  men  at  the  last  day.  Wheat 
and  tares  only  are  to  be  in  the  "  field ; "  good  and  bad  only,  in 
the  "  net."  The  wheat  is  saved,  the  tares  are  burned  ;  "  the 
good "  in  the  net  arfe  gathered  into  vessels ;  "  the  bad "  are 
none  of  them  dismissed  for  amendment,  or  growth,  but  are 
"  cast  away."  And  Christ  tells  us  that  every  human  being 
will  stand  at  his  right  hand,  or  left  hand,  "blessed,"  or 
"  cursed." 

Now,  when  we  call  to  mind  the  justice  of  God,  and  reflect 
that  undue  severity,  or  the  laying  on  man  more  than  is  meet, 
would  alienate  the  confidence  of  the  good  from  the  Most  High, 
and  when  we  consider  the  declaration  of  Christ,  that  sins  of 
ignorance  shall  receive  but  "  few  stripes,"  and  we  still  perceive 


154  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENT. 

that  the  human  race  are  evidently  to  fall  at  last  into  two  divis- 
ions, which  will  include  the  whole,  with  their  countless  diver- 
sities and  degrees  as  to  character  in  each  division,  we  infer  that 
no  provision  is  made  for  a  more  hopeful  class  to  enjoy  a  further 
trial.  All  upon  the  left  hand  are  doomed  alike.  If  there  is 
to  be  a  new  probation  after  death,  the  Bible  surely  does  not 
teach  it. 

VII.  The  duration  of  future  punishment  is  ex- 
pressed IN  THE  New  Testament  by  the  terms  employed 
TO  denote  absolute  eternity. 

There  is,  w^e  all  admit,  such  a  thing  asfo7-ever.  If  the  Bible 
speaks  of  the  natural  attributes  of  God,  his  eternity  is  of  course 
brought  to  view,  and  there  must  be  a  term,  or  terms,  to  convey 
the  idea. 

Now^  it  is  apparent  to  all,  that  the  words  eternal,  everlasting, 
forever,  never  of  themselves  signify  a  limited  duration.  No 
one  ever  learns /row  t/iese  ivords  that  the  duration  to  which 
they  refer  is  less  than  infinite.  The  idea  of  limitation,  if  it  be 
obtained,  always  is  derived  from  the  context. 

It  is  moreover  true,  beyond  the  possibility  of  dispute,  that 
the  words  eternal,  everlasting,  and  forever,  always  mean  t/ie 
ivhole  of  something.  There  is  no  instance  in  which  they  are 
used  to  denote  a  part  of  a  thing's  duration.  It  is  always  the 
entire  period  for  which  that  thing  is  to  last.  This  no  one  will 
call  in  question. 

It  is  well  understood  that  the  words  "  forever,"  and  "  ever- 
lasting," are  used  to  express  a  duration  commensurate  with 
the  nature  of  the  thing  spoken  of.  "  Everlasting  mountains," 
are  coeval  with  creation,  and  are  to  endure  as  long  as  the 
earth.  "  A  servant  forever,"  is  a  servant  for  life.  We  can- 
not take  the  sense  which  the  word  has  in  connection  with  a 
certain  thing,  and  by  it  prove  or  disprove  any  thing  relating 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  155 

to  a  totally  different  thing.  We  cannot  prove,  for  example, 
that  mountains  will  not  last  to  the  end  of  time,  because  for- 
ever^ applied  to  a  servant,  means  only  for  life.  We  must  con- 
sider the  nature  of  the  object  to  which  the  word  is  applied. 
When  it  is  applied  to  the  Most  High,  of  course  it  means  un- 
limited duration.  Now  the  words  which  convey  the  idea  of 
absolute  eternity  are  applied,  for  example,  to  mountains,  and 
\o  future  punishment,  and  to  the  being  and  government  of 
God.  This,  then,  is  certain :  Because  forever^  when  applied 
to  some  things,  does  not  mean  absolute  eternity,  it  does  not 
follow  that  it  does  not  mean  eternity  when  applied  to  future 
retribution.  If  it  were  so,  we  could  not  convey  the  idea  of 
the  eternity  of  God  ;  for  it  could  be  said  that  forever  is  some- 
times applied  to  a  limited  duration.  That  is  true  ;  now  if  this 
proves  that  future  punishment  is  not  forever,  it  must  also 
prove  that  the  being  of  God  is  not  forever. 

Two  things  are  beyond  dispute :  1.  Forever  and  everlast- 
ing are  applied  to  future  retributions.  2.  These  terms  always 
mean  the  whole,  as  to  duration,  of  that  with  which  they  stand 
connected.  If  applied  to  life,  it  is  the  whole  of  life ;  if  to  the 
existence  of  the  world,  it  is  the  entire  period  of  its  existence  ; 
if  to  a  covenant,  the  covenant  is  either  without  limit  as  to 
time,  or  it  is  the  whole  of  the  duration  which  the  subject  per- 
mits ;  and  when  applied  to  Jehovah,  it  refers  to  his  whole 
eternity. 

What,  then,  does  it  mean,  when  applied  to  future  retribu- 
tion ?  It  always  means  the  whole  of  something.  Is  it  the 
whole  of  future  existence?  No  one  can  base  a  denial  of  it  on 
the  ground  that  the  word,  when  applied  to  human  life,  means 
only  a  few  years,  or  a  limited  duration  when  applied  to  the 
earth.  For,  how  is  it  when  applied  to  God  and  the  happi- 
ness of  heaven  ?  It  is  certainly  the  place  of  any  who  deny 
endless  retributions,  to  show  that  the  words  cannot  mean  the 


156  SCRIPTURAL     ARGUMENT. 

whole  of  future  existence  when  applied  to  punishment.  The 
words  mean  the  whole  of  future  existence  when  applied,  by 
the  use  of  the  same  Greek  words  in  the  same  passages,  to  the 
happiness  of  the  righteous.  The  objector  must  show  that 
when  applied  to  the  future  life,  they  mean  only  a  part  of  it, 
notwithstanding  they  always  mean  the  whole  of  every  thing 
else  with  which  they  stand  connected. 

Such  are  some  of  the  considerations,  drawn  trom  the  word 
of  God,  which  satisfy  ray  own  mind  that  retributions  after 
death  are  without  end.  Mr.  Foster  speaks  of  it  as  '•  the  gen- 
eral, not  very  far  short  of  universal,  judgment  of  divines." 
Such  multitudes  of  the  best  of  men  and  women  are  still  firmly 
persuaded  of  its  truth,  that  we  are  led  to  say,  there  must  be 
a  foundation  for  it  in  the  word  of  God,  —  and  for  this  reason  : 
If  mankind  could  have  divested  themselves  of  the  conviction 
that  it  is  not  found  in  the  word  of  God,  it  is  reasonable  to 
think  that  it  would  long  since  have  been  discarded.  Nay, 
rather  who  would  have  invented  such  a  doctrine  ?  Good  men 
would  not  have  palmed  it  upon  the  world,  for  more  reasons 
than  one.  Besides,  many  an  error  has  been  exploded  ;  it  is 
unaccountable,  if  this  be  error,  that  it  should  have  kept  its 
hold  upon  the  human  mind.  No  Protestant,  it  would  seem, 
would  quote  a  belief  in  purgatory  as  a  parallel  case.  We 
have  no  coercion,  nor  any  kind  of  motive  to  bias  our  minds 
towards  this  article  of  faith.  We  use  no  terms  on  this  subject, 
—  certainly  we  approve  of  none,  which  are  not  derived  from 
the  Bible.  We  are  not  superstitious,  nor  fanatical,  nor  priest- 
ridden,  nor  cruel  ;  and  we  think  we  have  far  more  exalted 
reasons  for  believing  in  the  infinite  love  of  God  than  any  have 
who  do  not  see  it,  as  we  do,  in  the  atoning  cross.  However 
good  and  amiable  the  opposers  of  this  doctrine  may  be,  they 
will  not  assume  that  they  are  more  humane,  more  pitiful, 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  157 

more  gentle,  more  the  friends  of  God  and  man,  than  those  who 
believe  it.  In  view  of  the  hold  which  it  has  on  the  minds  of 
men,  it  would  be  so  great  a  marvel  that  the  doctrine  should  not 
be  found  in  the  Scriptures,  that  nothing  could  be  more  astound- 
ing, not  even  the  fearful  truth  itself. 

And  that  it  may  be  seen,  further,  how  we  are  confirmed  in 
our  persuasion  that  we  read  the  Bible  aright,  I  refer  not  only, 
as  above,  to  the  convictions  of  believers  that  the  doctrine  is 
scriptural,  but  to  the  positive  statements  of  some  who  have 
rejected  it. 

Mr.  Foster  tells  us,  "  And  the  language  of  Scripture  is 
formidably  strong,  —  so  strong  that  it  must  be  an  argument  of 
extreme  cogency  that  would  authorize  a  limited  interpreta- 
tion." 

Dr.  Thomas  Burnett,  an  English  divine,  writing  in  favor  of 
final  restoration,  says,  "  Human  nature  revolts  from  the  very 
name  of  future  punishment.  But  the  sacred  Scriptures  seem 
to  be  on  the  other  side."  ^ 

One  effect  of  the  recent  discussion  of  this  subject  in  this 
city  has  been  to  elicit  from  a  distinguished  advocate  of  final 
restoration,  the  following  statement :  — 

"  And  yet  I  freely  say  that  I  do  not  find  the  doctrine  of  the 
ultimate  salvation  of  all  souls  clearly  stated  in  any  text  or  in 
any  discourse  that  has  ever  been  reported  from  the  lips  of 
Christ.  I  do  not  think  that  we  can  fairly  maintain  that  the 
final  restoration  of  all  men  is  a  prominent  and  explicit  doc- 
trine of  the  four  gospels."  ^ 

To  this,  I  am  able  to  add  the  explicit  testimony  of  Rev. 
Theodore  Parker.     Wishing  to  verify  a  quotation  which  a 

^  "  Natura  humana  abhorret  ab  ipso  nomine  psenarura  aeternarum.  At 
Scriptura  sacra  a  partibus  contrariis  stare  videtur."  — De  Statu  Mort.  etRe 
surg.,  p.  228,  2d  ed. 

2  Rev.  T.  S.  King's  Two  Discourses,  p.  6. 

14 


158  SCRIPTURAL     ARGUMENTS. 

friend  had  tried  in  vain  to  find  for  me  in  one  of  Mr.  Parker*s 
volumes,  I  addressed  a  note  to  Mr.  P.,  asking  him  to  give  me 
the  reference.  The  following  polite  and  obliging  answer  will 
speak  for  itself.     All  the  Italics  are  Mr.  P.'s. 

««  Boston,  Dec.  1,  1858. 
"  Rev.  Dr.  Adams, 

"  Dear  Sir,  —  I  am  ill  now,  and  cannot  recollect  that  the 
passage  you  refer  to  occurs  in  any  of  my  volumes;  yet  it 
might,  in  several.     I  am  sure  it  does  in  some  printed  sermons 

—  pamphlets,  but  cannot  now  say  which.  I  will  try  to  find 
the  passage. 

"  To  7ne  It  IS  quite  clear  that  Jesus  taught  the  doctrine  of 
eternal  damnation^  if  the  Evangelists  —  the  first  three  I  mean, 

—  are  to  be  treated  as  inspired.  I  can  understand  his  lan- 
guage in  no  other  way.  But  as  the  Protestant  sects  start  with 
the  notion  —  which  to  me  is  a  monstrous  one  —  that  the  words 
of  the  New  Testament  are  all  miraculously  inspired  by  God, 
and  so  infallibly  true ;  and  as  this  doctrine  of  eternal  damna- 
tion is  so  revolting  to  all  the  humane  and  moral  feelings  of 
our  nature,  men  said  'the  words  must  be  interpreted  in 
another  way.'  So  as  the  Unitarians  have  misinterpreted  the 
New  Testament  to  prove  that  the  Christos  of  the  fourth 
gospel  had  no  preexistence,  the  Universalists  misinterpreted 
other  passages  of  the  gospels  to  show  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
never  taught  eternal  damnation.  So  the  geologists  misinter- 
pret Genesis  to-day  —  to  save  the  divine  infallible  character 
of  the  text. 

"Yours  truly,  Theodore  Parker." 

It  was  but  fair  to  let  Mr.  P.  state  his  whole  belief  on  this 

subject.  Thus,   in   his   view,  if  the  Evangelists    are   to  be 

believed,  Christ  taught  that  future  retributions  are  to  be 
endless. 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  159 

There  is  nothing  to  be  surprised  at  in  this ;  but  it  will 
be  seen  that  it  is  not  without  good  reason  that  those  who 
receive  the  Bible  implicitly  as  the  word  of  God  have  so 
generally  believed  in  endless  retribution  as  a  doctrine  of 
Scripture. 

The  question  then  arises,  whether  our  human  instincts, 
Of  divine  revelation,  whether  man  the  sinner,  or  God  the 
sovereign,  shall  dictate  the  penalty  of  sin  ?  Mr.  Foster, 
seeking  relief  to  his  mind  from  the  terrible  idea  of  endless 
sin  and  misery,  says  of  the  doctrine  of  the  annihilation 
of  the  wicked,  "  It  would  be  a  prodigious  relief."  Some 
one  respectfully  replies  to  him  that  "  the  divine  government 
is  not  for  the  relief  of  the  imagination,  but  for  the  relief 
of  the  universe." 

The  question  is  often  asked.  How,  allowing  endless  retri- 
bution to  be  a  scriptural  doctrine,  can  you  have  peace  of 
mind  in  your  belief? 

I  answer,  We  believe  that  no  one  will  perish  who  does 
not  reject  the  Saviour  of  the  world ;  or,  if  he  be  a  heathen, 
does  not  sin  against  light  and  conviction  sufficient  to  save 
him. 

It  has  an  effect  to  quiet  our  minds  when  we  reflect  that 
our  thoughts  and  feelings  at  the  loss  of  the  soul  were  surpassed 
in  Him  whose  soul  for  us  was  exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto 
death.  Tears  were  shed  by  him  over  sinners  — "  God  hath 
laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all."  If  the  thought  of  end- 
less retribution  is  so  terrible  to  us  who  know  so  little  about 
it,  we  are  constrained  to  think  that  there  was  never  any 
sorrow  like  unto  the  sorrow  of  him,  who  loved  us  and  gave 
himself  for  us,  when  he  sees  that  he  must,  nevertheless, 
pronounce  upon  any  for  whom  he  died,  the  sentence  of 
that  everlasting  punishment  from  which  he  became  incar- 
nate, and  died  to  save  us.  Great  as  our  astonishment  and 
5 


160  SCRIPTURAL     ARGUMENT. 

sorrow  are,  we  cannot  forget  tliat  they  are  infinitely  less 
than  his.  If,  through  grace,  we  are  saved, ^ve  look  to  him, 
who  knows  what  his  own  tears  have  been,  to  wipe  away 
all  tears  from  our  eyes. 

We  also  consider  that  the  basis  of  future  punishment 
is  a  chosen  and  cherished  state  of  mind,  which  leads  men 
here  to  reject  Christ,  notwithstanding  his  known  character 
ania  his  efforts  for  them.  This  may  lead  them  still  to  reject 
him;  for,  as  already  stated,  we  do  not  find  that  even  the 
loss  of  heaven  and  the  experience  of  chains  under  darkness, 
have  reconciled  lost  angels  to  God.  While  they  choose  to 
sin,  therefore,  we  see  no  injustice  in  their  being  punished, 
even  if  they  sin  forever. 

That  the  Bible  contains  forewarnings  and  instructions 
which  ought  to  be  sufficient  to  deter  men  from  future  misery, 
we  learn  even  from  the  reply  of  Abraham  to  the  rich  man 
in  hell.  The  rich  man  desired  that  Lazarus  might  be  sent 
to  his  father's  house  with  testimony  concerning  that  "  place 
of  torment."  Abraham  replied,  that  "  they  have  Moses  and 
the  prophets,  let  them  hear  them."  The  rich  man  could  have 
easily  reminded  Abraham,  if  truth  permitted,  that  there  is 
nothing  about  that  place  in  the  Old  Testament.  He  makes 
no  such  answer,  but  pleads  the  supposed  efficacy  of  a  visitor 
from  the  unseen  world.  Abraham  replied,  that  such  a  visitor 
could  have  no  effect  on  those  who  do  not  believe  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Old  Testament  on  that  subject.  All  this  is 
from  the  lips  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Inasmuch  as  we  cast  no  blame  on  God  for  the  present 
condition  and  conduct  of  cannibals,  and  pagans,  and  atheists, 
and  blasphemers,  and  slave  traders,  and  every  other  descrip- 
tion of  wicked  men,  (neither  do  they  themselves  impute  blame 
to  him,)  we  do  not  feel  that  God  will  be  responsible  for  the 
endless  wickedness  and  misery  of  sinners;  nor  will  they 
charge  him  with  injustice  more  than  they  now  do. 


ENDLESS     KETRIBUTION.  161 

We  believe  that  the  God  of  the  New  Testament  is  the 
same  unchangeable  God  of  the  Old  Testament ;  that  Christ 
has  not  modified  the  divine  character  nor  altered  one  prin- 
ciple of  the  divine  administration;  but  that  the  New  Tes- 
tament reveals  the  mercy  of  God  in  full  orbed  beauty, 
though  its  outlines  were  always  visible  from  the  beginning ; 
that  all  which  was  terrible  in  the  God  who  destroyed  the 
old  world,  and  Sodom  and  Gomorrha,  and  cast  down  rebel 
angels  from  heaven  to  hell,  is  still  the  same,  and  that  when 
mercy  has  failed  under  the  New  Testament  to  recover  sin- 
ners, the  God  of  the  Old  Testament  and  of  the  New  will 
be  their  Judge  and  King.  We  read  that  "it  is  a  fearful 
thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God."  —  "  For  our 
God  is  a  consuming  fire."  And  we  have  our  choice,  to  love 
and  serve  such  a  God  as  this,  or  to  reject  him  and  take  the 
consequences.  Our  private  experience  persuades  us  that 
He  is  good.  He  has  always  been  just  and  kind,  gentle, 
easy  to  be  entreated.  In  all  our  afflictions  he  was  afflicted, 
and  the  angel  of  his  presence  saved  us.  Knowing  this,  his 
stern,  uncompromising  hatred  of  sin,  his  power  to  inflict 
suiFering  and  to  look  upon  it  forever,  if  necessary,  give  us 
confidence  in  Him.  We  may  need  such  attributes  for  the 
foundation  of  our  safety  and  of  our  confidence  in  God,  as 
much  as  that  attribute  which  we  now  separate  from  the 
rest  of  his  character  and  call  his  love. 

We  believe  that  the  Bible  teaches,  —  for  surely  it  follows 
of  course  from  all  which  has  now  been  adduced,  that  some 
proportion  of  pain  and  misery  will  forever  exist  under  the 
government  of  God.  The  idea  that  they  are  to  be  wholly  ex- 
purgated is  contradicted  by  the  Scriptures,  and  is  mere  fancy. 
But  the  scale  of  things  being  hereafter  enlarged  to  our  appre- 
hension, and  the  reasons  for  one  thing  and  another  which  are 
now  but  partially  explained,  being  more  fully  apparent,  we 
14^ 


162  SCRIPTURAL     ARGUMENT. 

think  we  see  in  the  present  feelings  of  good  citizens  with  re- 
gard to  law,  and  punishments,  and  the  officers  of  justice,  how 
future  pain  and  misery,  in  their  relation  to  the  infinitely  blessed 
system  of  government  over  a  universe  of  free  agents,  will  by 
no  means  diminish  the  happiness  of  that  multitude  of  obedient 
souls  which  no  man  can  number. 

I  have  always  been  struck  by  the  consideration,  that  the 
passages  from  which  Universalists  infer  the  final  happiness  of 
all  men,  do  not  occur  in  the  Bible  in  connection  with  the  pun- 
ishment of  the  wicked.  This  is  of  the  utmost  importance.  It 
is  one  presumptive  proof  that,  occurring  as  they  do  apart  from 
any  mention  of  the  punishment  of  the  wicked,  they  belong  to 
other  subjects.  And  so  we  find  them,  in  connection  with  the 
blessedness  of  the  righteous,  the  ultimate  victories  of  Christ 
over  his  enemies,  his  final  reign,  and  the  happiness  of  heaven. 
But  we  look  in  vain  for  passages  where  promises,  prophecies, 
hints  of  ultimate  restoration,  occur  in  connection  with  the  sub- 
ject of  future  punishment.  It  will  not  be  disputed  that  there 
are  passages  which  seem  to  teach  future,  endless  punishment  ; 
and  the  attempt  is  to  show  that  they  are  "  metaphorical."  But 
some  appear  to  think  that  "  metaphorical "  means  ^'•fctitioiis,'' 
"  unreal ; "  on  the  contrary,  "  metaphorical  "  language  is  gen- 
erally the  stronger  way  of  asserting  any  thing,  being  resorted 
to  for  the  purpose  of  intensifying,  the  expression.  But  how 
remarkable  it  is  that  we  find  no  clause  nor  phrase,  neither 
literal,  nor  "  metaphorical,"  limiting  the  main  drift  of  a  pas- 
sage which  speaks  of  future,  endless  punishment,  or  suggest- 
ing the  idea  of  restoration.  The  bold,  terrific  language  of 
Scripture,  asserting  the  future  punishment  of  the  wicked,  has 
not  one  word  of  qualification. 

"We  frequently  meet  with  such  representations  and  illustra- 
tions as  the  following,  in  modern  writers,  —  from  whom  I  had 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  163 

intended  to  quote  several  passages  ;  but  the  following  state- 
ment of  their  views  will  sqffice :  The  soul  is  God's  child. 
Will  a  good  mother  ever  cast  away  her  offspring  ?  No,  neither 
will  the  great  "  Mother  of  us  all,"  —  the  love  of  God.  The 
worst  of  men  —  the  Judases,  the  Neros,  and  Caligulas,  will  at 
last  fulfil  their  career  of  sin  and  sorrow,  and  return  to  the 
bosom  of  God.  As  the  earth  in  some  parts  of  its  orbit  drives 
away  from  the  sun,  but  soon  comes  "  rounding  back  again,"  so 
every  creature  that  Grod  ever  made,  Satan  and  all,  (if  there 
be  any  Satan,)  will  at  last  accomplish  its  terrible  career,  and, 
passing  its  solstice,  rejoice  in  a  new  moral  existence. 

The  brief  reply  to  all  such  fancies,  is  this :  Have  we  a 
Bible  ?  Does  it  give  us  any  intimation  of  such  a  revolution, 
such  an  orbit,  for  the  lost  soul  ?  We  read  of  '^  wandering 
stars,  to  whom  is  reserved  the  mist  of  darkness  forever  and 
ever ; "  but  where  does  the  Bible,  in  speaking  of  the  spirit 
launching  forth  on  its  aphelion,  intimate  that  its  path  is  a  cycle, 
and  not  a  straight  line  ? 

We  see  one  part  of  the  race  "  go  away  into  everlasting  pun- 
ishment." But  this  is  said  to  be  merely  "  a  metaphor."  We 
will  be  grateful  even  for  "  a  metaphor,"  if  there  be  any,  rep- 
resenting their  return. 

We  have  lately  been  furnished,  from  high  authority  in  the 
Universalist  denomination,  with  some  of  the  principal  proof 
texts  in  the  discourses  of  Christ  in  favor  of  the  salvation  of  all. 
men.  They  occur  in  an  article  in  the  Universalist  Quarterly, 
for  October,  1858,  written  by  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Whittemore, 
in  which  he  endeavors  to  answer  Rev.  T.  S.  King's  assertion, 
that  he  could  not  find  any  text  or  discourse  of  Christ  which 
contains  the  doctrine  of  the  final  happiness  of  all  men.  Dr. 
Whittemore,  of  course,  would  here  bring  forth  some  of  his 
strong  proofs,  for  he  says  of  Mr.  King's  discourse,  "  We  think 
5* 


164  SCRIPTURAL     ARGUMENT. 

they  will  do  as  much  to  break  down  Universalisra  as  to  break 
down  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery."  The  following  are  Dr. 
Whittemore's  quotations  from  the  words  of  Christ,  to  prove 
that  he  taught  the  final  salvation  of  all  men. 

1.  "  This  is  indeed  the  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world."  ^ 
Dr.  Whittemore  gives  an  extended  exposition  of  the  discourse 
of  Christ  at  the  well  of  Samaria,  which  gave  occasion  to  these 
words  of  the  Samaritans  ;  and  he  says,  "  Jesus  Christ,  let  it 
be  remembered,  is  declared  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world  ; 
and  how  could  he  be  justly  called  the  Saviour  of  the  world  if 
the  world  shall  never  be  saved  ?  "  ^ 

2.  "  All  things  are  delivered  unto  me  of  my  Father."  This 
is  a  major  premise.  "  All  that  the  Father  hath  given  me  shall 
come  to  me,"  is  the  minor  premise.  "  To  come  to  Christ  is  to 
become  a  Christian."  ^  This  involves  the  ergo  of  the  propo- 
sition. —  He  adds,  "  We  have  by  no  means  exhausted  our 
proof,"  ^  and  he  gives  us 

3.  "  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all 
men  unto  me."  "We  have  the  word  of  Christ  for  it,  — '  will 
draw  all  men  unto  me.' "  ^ 

4.  "Jesus  answered.  Ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the  Scrip- 
tures, nor  the  power  of  God.  For  in  the  resurrection,  they 
neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are  as  the  angels 
of  God  in  heaven."  "  If  angels  are  holy,  mankind  are  to  be 
holy ;  if  angels  are  to  be  happy,  mankind  are  to  be  happy." 
"  This  is  a  distinct  and  positive  declaration  of  the  purity  and 
happiness  of  all  men."  *  "  How,  then,"  Dr.  W.  says,  "  can  we 
adopt  the  language  of  Mr.  King,  and  say,  '  I  do  not  find  the 
doctrine,'  &c.  Strange  declaration !  Jesus  joined  two  great 
facts  together,  the  resurrection  of  all  men,  and  their  exaltation 
to  the  condition  of  angels."  ^ 

1  John  iv.  42.  3  p.  391.  6  p.  395. 

2  p.  890.  4  p.  392.  6  p.  395, 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  165 

Such  passages  are,  in  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Whittemore,  a 
plain,  obvious  refutation,  from  Christ  himself,  of  that,  in  Dr. 
Whittemore's  view,  dangerous  assertion  by  Mr.  King,  viz., 
"the  ultimate  salvation  of  all  souls  is  not  clearly  taught  in 
any  text  or  discourse  in  the  gospels." 

The  principal  topics  which  have  now  been  considered  are 
these  :  — 

The  Scriptures  reveal  a  future  state  of  reward  and  punish- 
ment. 

They  teach  that  the  body  and  soul  will  be  joined  in  future 
happiness  and  misery. 

Christ  teaches  that  God  can  destroy  both  body  and  soul  in 
hell.  If  God  cannot  morally  do  this,  the  declaration  is  un- 
intelligible ;  it  answers  no  purpose  of  instruction. 

Future  punishment  will  therefore  be  a  natural  op^ation  of 
moral  laws,  sustained  and  made  effectual  by  the  hand  of 
God  upon  the  sinner,  who,  by  his  state  of  depravity,  will  be 
made  susceptible  to  misery  forever. 

The  essential  elements  of  misery  remain  in  the  wicked  after 
death. 

Redemption  by  Christ  is  represented  as  having  for  its  ob- 
ject salvation  from  final  perdition. 

The  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  a  part  of  redemption,  and 
the  unpardonable  sin  against  Him,  prove  that  the  present  is 
the  final  effort  to  save  men. 

None  of  the  passages  relied  on  to  prove  final  restoration 
occur  in  connection  with  the  subject  of  future  punishment, 
but  with  the  reign  of  Christ,  and  the  happiness  of  the  right- 
eous. 

No  passage  in  the  Bible  discloses  the  future  repentance  of 
the  wicked. 

Promises  of  restoration,  made  to  sinners  who  in  this  world 


166  SCRIPTURAL     ARGUMENT. 

were  to  become  penitent,  always  occur  in  connection  with 
threatenings  and  doom.  No  such  promises  are  made  in  con- 
nection with  the  threatenings  of  future  punishment,  or  with 
the  final  doom  of  the  wicked. 

The  Bible  closes  with  an  express  declaration  of  the  future 
unchangeableness  of  character. 

There  are  no  prophetic  visions  in  the  New  Testament 
which  contemplate  deliverance  from  hell,  and  corresponding  to 
visions  of  God's  ancient  people  in  captivity,  and  of  their  release 
and  restoration. 

The  fall  of  angels,  and  of  man,  is  a  confirmatory  argument 
in  favor  of  future  punishment,  seeing  that  if  God  did  not  keep 
them  from  falling,  he  can  consistently  refuse  to  restore  them. 

The  terms  used  with  regard  to  the  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
show,  that  the  wicked  will  have  experienced  no  change  since 
death,  but  will  come  forth  from  their  graves  to  the  resurrec- 
tion of  damnation. 

If  the  wicked  are  punished  hereafter  merely  for  their  own 
good,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  sin  against  God  or  our  neigh- 
bor ;  —  which  is  contrary  to  Scripture. 

The  law  of  God  has  no  curse  if  future  punishment  be  in  all 
cases  disciplinary. 

The  sentence  passed  upon  the  impenitent  indiscriminately, 
forbids  the  idea  of  discipline  in  future  punishment. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  fallen  angels  and  "  the  spirits  in 
prison,"  who  were  on  earth  "  in  the  days  of  Noah,"  should 
not  long  ago  have  repented  of  their  sins,  if  repentance  were 
the  object  sought  by  their  punishment. 

If  death,  and  the  scenes  within  the  veil  previous  to  the  judg- 
ment day,  do  not  effect  the  repentance  in  the  wicked,  there  is 
no  ground  to  think  that  their  banishment  from  Christ  with  the 
fallen  angels,  at  the  last  day,  is  intended  for  their  reformation, 
or  would  effect  it. 


ENDLESS     RETRIBUTION.  167 

« Forever"  and  "everlasting"  always  denote  the  ivTiole, 
as  to  duration,  of  that  with  which  they  stand  connected. 

If  a  finite  being  cannot  justly  be  punished  forever,  then,  if 
the  whole  universe  should  sin  forever  it  could  not  be  pun- 
ished forever,  because  the  whole  intelligent  universe  also  is 
finite. 

The  duration  of  future  punishment  is  expressed  in  the 
New  Testament  by  the  terms  employed  to  denote  absolute 
eternity  in  cases  which  are  never  questioned. 

The  provision  made  in  the  incarnation,  sufferings,  and  death 
of  the  Son  of  God  for  pardon  and  salvation,  and  the  abim- 
dant  calls  to  repentance,  and  offers  of  eternal  life,  through 
Christ,  to  all,  will  make  the  final  impenitence  of  sinners  inex- 
cusable, and  their  misery  will  be  of  their  own  procuring. 


I 


V. 

EEASONABLENESS 

FUTURE,  ENDLESS  PUNISHMENT 


FOR   THE  WAGES    OF   SIN  IS   DEATH. 

—  KoM.  vi.  23. 

Let  us  endeavor  to  think  how  it  would  be  with  us,  should 
it  come  to  pass,  as  the  fool  in  his  heart  wishes  it  to  be,  that 
there  is  no  God ;  that  God  is  dethroned.  Some  disaster  has 
happened  in  the  universe,  and  rival  spirits,  we  will  suppose, 
have  triumphed.  Malignity  has  supplanted  benevolence ; 
wickedness  is  enthroned  over  virtue ;  chance  does  not  rule, 
but  the  government  of  all  worlds  is  in  the  hands  of  the  en- 
emies of  God.  Prayer  now  is  useless ;  public  worship  may 
as  well  cease.  Bibles  are  like  old  books  of  history,  and 
nothing  more,  for  the  promises  of  the  Bible  are  now  like 
irredeemable  bills.  Repentance  and  faith  are  useless.  The 
deity  to  whom  this  world  has  fallen  by  lot  is  Mammon,  or 
Moloch ;  or  it  may  be  that  Satan  himself,  out  of  spite  for  all 
which  he  has  suffered  here,  takes  it  under  his  charge.  Every 
thing  now  is  perverted;  darkness  is  put  for  light,  evil  for 
good,  bitter  for  sweet.  The  strongest  must  rule ;  to  get  all 
he  can,  by  all  means,  is  the  governing  principle  of  every 
man ;  no  rights  are  respected  ;  Virtue  is  driven  out  of  the 
world ;  her  defences  and  her  great  reward  have  perished. 
Every  wh^re  we  are  assailed  with  the  sight  of  these  words, 
and  with  this  cry :  No  God !  No  God !  Whether  the 
15  (169) 


170  THE    REASONABLENESS    OP 

devils  hj?ve  power  to  control  the  elements  and  rule  the  heav 
enly  bodies,  or  whether  all  things  will  rush  to  ruin,  is  a  fear 
ful  question,  which  every  day  and  hour  appals  the  stoute^l 
heart.  For,  instead  of  One,  Almighty,  Supreme  Being,  whc 
can  say,  as  formerly, "  I  am  God,  and  there  is  none  else,"  and 
instead  of  that  unity  of  purpose,  and  independent  will,  and 
unrivalled  might,  which  governed  the  universe  safely  and 
happily,  a  band  of  devils,  we  suppose,  is  at  the  head  of  affairs, 
the  superior  demon  holding  his  sway  by  force  over  the  rest, 
or  by  their  assent;  but  no  unity  of  purpose,  or  perma- 
nence, can  be  expected  in  things  controlled  by  hateful  and 
hating  creatures.  We  look  up  to  the  heavens;  they  no 
longer  "  declare  the  glory  of  God,"  but  telegraph  his  discom- 
fiture.    As  one  says, — 

"What  were  the  universe  without  a  God? 
A  mob  of  worlds,  careering  round  the  sky." 

Law  every  where  would  be  likely  to  be  mob  law.  If  we 
could,  by  armies  and  any  sacrifice  of  treasure  and  blood,  rein- 
state Jehovah  in  his  throne,  our  own  self-interest,  and  sense 
of  justice,  and  outraged  feelings,  would  impel  us  to  any  and 
every  elFort  to  drive  Satan  and  his  hosts  from  heaven,  and 
shut  them  up  in  hell  as  long  as  they  should  continue  rebel- 
lious ;  and  the  return  of  the  day  when  God  Almighty  should 
resume  his  peaceful  reign  in  the  armies  of  heaven,  and  among 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  would  be  a  jubilee.  But  alas ! 
if  the  almighty  arm,  so  called,  could  not  prevail  against  his 
enemies,  how  could  mortals  help  him?  Let  it  once  be  that 
usurpers  have  the  throne  of  God,  and  annihilation  would  be 
coveted  by  every  one  of  us  more  eagerly  than  any  despairing 
suicide  ever  yet  longed  to  prove  or  to  find  it  true. 

Every  one  of  us  has  done  his  part  to  bring  about  this  state 
of  things.     Should  the  natural  feelinsjs  and  conduct  of  each 


171 

of  js  be  extended  indefinitely,  all  this  would  virtually  hap- 
pen. There  might  be  more  refinement  in  wickedness  in  some 
places  than  in  others,  to  suit  the  tastes  and  habits  of  diflferent 
people ;  but  Greece  and  Rome,  the  models  of  ancient  cultiva- 
tion and  refinement,  are,  with  "  the  whole  world  lying  in  wick- 
edness," described  by  an  unerring  pen  in  the  first  chapter  of 
Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  in  terms  which  make  every 
reader  blush  with  shame  at  human  nature.  Its  degeneracy 
and  corruption,  from  Cain  to  the  days  of  the  Canaanites,  and 
ever  since,  when  unrestrained  by  the  grace  of  God,  have  been 
such  that  nation  after  nation  made  it  necessar}^  for  God  to 
wipe  them  out  of  existence,  "  as  a  man  wipeth  a  dish,  wiping 
it  and  turning  it  upside  down."^  Volney  surveys  the 
"ruins  of  empires,"  and  mourns,  saying,  "To  what  purpose 
is  this  waste  ? "  and  he  impeaches  the  wisdom  of  his  God. 
He  will  not  consider  that  sin  is  the  procuring  cause  of  na- 
tional, as  it  is  of  individual  ruin,  and  that  God  has  but  ful- 
filled the  threatening,  "  The  nation  and  kingdom  that  will 
not  serve  thee  shall  perish ;  yea,  those  nations  shall  be  utterly 
wasted."  ^  "  Thou  shalt  dash  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's 
vessel."  ^ 

Sin  is  the  antagonist  of  God.  If  sin  prevails,  there  is  "  no 
God."  For  wherever,  even  upon  a  small  scale,  sin  prevails, 
God  is  banished.  Let  its  power  be  supreme,  and  practically 
there  is  no  God. 

Where  is  sin  ?  Who  ever  saw  it  ?  Where  is  its  habita- 
tion ?  Sin  exists  nowhere  but  in  free,  intelligent  creatures. 
There  is  no  sin  separate  from  a  sinner.  Whoever,  therefore, 
is  a  sinner,  is  sin  impersonated.  In  the  greatest  measure,  we 
suppose,  sin  exists  in  Satan ;  then  in  his  companions  ;  then  in 
lost  men  ,  then  in  living  men.  "  The  carnal  mind  is  enmity 
against  God."     If  we  say.  The  Asiatic  cholera  is  in  Boston^ 

^  2  Kings  xxi.  13.  «  Is.  Ix.  12.  ^  Pg.  U.  9. 


172  THE    REA.SONABLENESS    OF 

we  mean  that  there  are  those  here  who  have  the  cholera- 
There  is  no  sin  but  in  the  hearts  of  fallen  spirits  and  men. 

There  is  not  one  of  us  who,  when  placed  in  circumstances 
where  God  and  his  requirements  or  prohibitions  came  in 
conflict  with  our  wishes,  has  not  fought  against  God.  This 
is  no  more  than  the  powers  of  hell  would  do  on  a  larger 
scale,  if  they  had  the  opportunity. 

The  difference  is  this :  There  is  a  plague,  we  will  say,  in 
London,  wiuoh  is  cutting  down  a  thousand  in  a  day.  Men 
think  and  speak  of  it  as  an  awful  scourge.  But  you  are  at 
Bath,  or  Carlisle,  sick  with  the  plague,  alone,  and  you  are 
ready  to  die.  There  is  no  difference  between  your  plague 
and  the  plague  in  London.  All  the  symptoms  which  the 
thousand  victims  in  London  have,  you  exhibit ;  but  you  are 
not  in  a  community  where  the  disease  is  triumphant.  But  it 
is  killing  you ;  it  does  no  more  in  London,  only  that  it  has 
gained  the  upper  hand,  and  puts  the  inhabitants  to  flight. 

In  like  manner,  sin,  disobedience  to  God,  and  the  dislike  of 
him  from  which  it  springs,  is  the  same  in  substance  every 
where.  If  we  dislike  God,  his  attributes,  his  requirements, 
his  prohibitions,  and  if  infinite  mischief  is  not  the  consequence, 
it  is  because  our  influence  is  hemmed  in  and  overruled ;  just 
as  we  might  have  a  contagious  disorder,  and  yet  such 
preventives  be  employed  as  would  keep  it  from  doing  much 
harm. 

Though  sin  has  not  extended  in  the  universe  so  far  as  to 
dethrone  God,  we  have  most  perfect  illustrations  of  its  awful 
power. 

There  was  a  time  when  all  the  sin  which  was  in  the  world 
was  enclosed  in  one  sinful  wish  in  the  breast  of  one  woman. 
She  ]i  ad  permission  to  eat  of  every  tree  but  one,  and  that  one 
God  prohibited,  saying,  "  In  the  day  thou  eatest  thereof,  thou 
shalt  surely  die."    A  transient  thought,  immediately  repressed 


FUTURE,  ENDLESS  PUNISHMENT.    173 

or   disapproved,  would   not  have    been   sin ;    for,   as   Milton 

says, 

*'  Evil  into  the  mind  of  God  or  man 
May  come  and  go,  so  unapproved,  and  leave 
No  spot  or  blame  behind ;  "  l 

but  she  indulged  that  wish,  and  hankered  after  that  fruit ;  and 
in  that  sinful  wish  all  the  sin  of  earth  once  laj.  •  That  wish 
became  an  act ;  and  now  let  him  who  would  write  the  sins  and 
woes  of  earth  first  count  for  us  the  snow  flakes  of  five  thou- 
sand winters,  and  tell  us  the  number  of  drops  in  all  the  rivers 
and  oceans.  "  By  one  man's  disobedience  many  were  made 
sinners ; "  and  their  history  is  the  history  of  wars,  lust,  intem- 
perance, violence.  O  sin !  what  hast  thou  done  ?  What 
canst  thou  not  do? 

There  is  another  illustration  still  more  affecting.  We  see 
a  company  of  evil  spirits  whom  Christ  is  casting  out  of  two 
men.  They  hold  a  conversation  with  the  Saviour.  If  they 
are  mere  diseases,  and  not  intelligent  creatures  capable  of 
reasoning,  but  are  only  personified  maladies,  who  are  making 
a  truce  with  Christ,  and  if  he  countenances  the  delusion  that 
this  scene  is  not  even  so  real  a  thing  as  a  masquerade,  but  a 
fiction  throughout,  while  questions  are  put  and  answers  given, 
requests  made  and  permission  granted,  there  is  an  end  to  all 
confidence  in  language,  and  indeed  the  reality  of  every  thing 
may  be  questioned.  "  And  they  besought  him  that  he  would 
not  command  them  to  go  out  into  the  deep."  ^  They  did  not 
mean  the  sea,  for  thither  they  soon  went  of  their  own  choice. 
The  same  word,  in  Rev.  xx.  3,  is  translated  "  bottomless  pit." 
They  are  called  "  evil  spirits."  But  if  they  were  intelligent 
creatures,  they  were  fallen  creatures;  for  we  suppose  that 
G  od  would  not  create  a  demon ;  and  allowing  even  that  they 
were  the  souls  of  lost  men,  or  an  order  of  beings  who  came 

1  Par.  Lost,  B.  v.  1.  117.  ?  Luke  viii.  3L 

15* 


174  THE    REASONABLENESS    OF 

into  existence,  as  we  did,  with  a  fallen  nature,  probation  must 
have  been  allotted  to  them  —  a  chance  to  be  saved ;  for  we 
shall  agree  that  no  infant,  nor  any  other  being,  can  be  lost 
merely  for  having  a  fallen  nature.  These  fallen  spirits,  then, 
were  once  surrounded  by  virtuous  influences ;  they  may  have 
been  angels ;  and  if  they  were,  nay,  even  if  they  sang  to- 
gether with  other  morning  stars,  and  shouted  for  joy  with  all 
the  sons  of  God,  at  the  birth  of  the  world,  they  fell  no  fur- 
ther, comparatively,  than  the  sons  or  daughters  of  men  have 
fallen  here,  from  homes  of  purity  and  circles  of  refinement, 
from  pulpits  and  the  table  of  Christ.  "  So  the  devils  besought 
him,  saying,  If  thou  cast  us  out,  suffer  us  to  go  away  into 
the  herd  of  swine."  ^  O  sin,  what  hast  thou  done  ?  This  whole 
legion  of  devils,  moreover,  had  taken  possession  of  two  poor 
creatures,  and  made  them  maniacs  "  exceeding  fierce."  Why 
should  more  than  one  malignant  spirit  wish  to  possess  one 
human  body  ?  "What  mysteries  there  are  in  sin,  and 
"depths  of  Satan"! 

The  difference  between  sin  as  it  existed  in  these  demons 
and  as  it  exists  in  our  breasts,  is  the  same  as  between  the 
loathsome  victim  of  the  plague,  and  the  man  who  is  just 
taken  sick  with  it.  There  was  a  time  when  angels  in 
heaven,  who,  the  Bible  tells  us,  were  "cast  down  to  hell, 
and  delivered  into  chains  of  darkness,  to  be  reserved  unto 
judgment,"  ^  were  but  just  infected  with  this  malady  of  sin. 
There  was  a  time  when  Eve  was  but  just  attacked  with  it. 
We  are  in  the  early  stage  of  the  disorder ;  but  we  have  it, 
and  if  no  remedy  be  applied,  time  only  is  wanted  to  make  us 
desperate.  If  placed  in  circumstances  where  we  could  com- 
municate the  infection  to  unfallen  creatures,  like  Eve  to 
Adam,  and  thus  to  a  race,  God  only  can  measure  the  conse- 
quences.    Many  a   human  spirit,  if  not  redeemed   from  its 

1  Matt.  viii.  31.  a  2  Peter  ii.  4. 


FUTURE,   ENDLESS    PUNISHMENT.         175 

sins,  the  child  now  sleeping  in  its  cradle,  is  capable,  in  the 
progress  of  its  being,  of  going  forth  to  tempt  and  ruin  some 
fair  world,  and  to  become  the  "  prince  of  the  power  of  the 
air  "  to  that  fallen  province  of  God's  empire,  and  to  rival  the 
arch  apostate  angel  in  his  direful  history. 

Is  this  tremendous  thing  in  us  —  this  antagonism  to  God  ? 
this  enemy  to  the  universe  ?     If  so,  what  is  it  ? 

"  Sin  is  any  want  of  conformity  unto,  or  transgression  of,  the 
law  of  God."  ^  The  sum  of  all  which  God  requires  of  man, 
and  prohibits,  is  comprehended  in  the  ten  commandments, 
every  one  of  which,  in  thought,  word,  or  deed,  we  have 
broken.  The  Saviour  gives  us  a  still  more  simple  summary 
of  our  duty :  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and 
with  all  thy  strength  ;  "  and  "  Thou  shalt  love  jthy  neighbor  as 
thyself."  ^  We  have  failed  to  do  this  ;  we  love  and  serve  the 
creature  more  than  the  Creator.  Do  we  avoid  that  which 
God  disapproves  ?  Do  we  study  to  do  that  which  he  loves  ? 
If  we  have  a  family,  do  we  call  them  together  morning  and 
night,  and  read  to  them  out  of  God's  word,  and  before  them 
bow  the  knee  to  God  ?  Is  it  natural  to  do  this  ?  If  not,  do 
we  give  evidence  that  we  love  God?  His  blessings  we 
highly  prize ;  his  natural  attributes  we  are  ready  to  adore  ; 
but  God,  with  the  moral  attributes  which  the  Bible  ascribes  to 
him,  we  do  not  love.  On  the  contrary,  we  have  feelings  and 
thoughts,  and  we  do  things,  which  are  "  enmity  against  God,"  ^ 
and,  carried  out  into  other  situations,  and  exasperated  by 
opposition  to  our  wills,  and  their  influence  being  sufficiently 
extended,  they  would  supplant  his  throne. 

If  we  were  in  the  place  of  God,  we  may  imagine  how  we 
would  regard  sin.     He  comprehends  the  interests  of  all  intel- 

^  Westminster  Assembly's  Shorter  Catechism,  14. 

'  Mark  xii.  30,  31.  a  Rom.  viii.  7. 


176  THE     REASONABLENESS     OF 

llgent  beings,  and  sees  that  sin  is  fatal  to  his  government  over 
them,  so  that,  wherever  sin  reigns,  there,  and  in  that  propor- 
tion, there  is  no  God.  It  would  be  better  that  the  universe 
should  perish  than  that  harm  should  come  to  the  infinite  God  , 
but  sin  would  not  only  destroy  the  universe ;  for,  if  it  could 
prevail,  it  would  dethrone  God.  Let  us  place  ourselves 
where  we  could  see  and  feel  what  sin  would  do  if  it  were 
aimed  against  us,  and  our  authority,  and  the  happiness  of  a 
universe  for  whose  welfare  we  were  responsible.  How  would 
we  legislate  about  that  which  would  inevitably  ruin  other 
worlds  and  races,  as  it  has  ours  ?  What  would  we  do  to  pre- 
vent it,  apd  to  reform  and  save  the  rebellious  ?  Should  we 
do  any  thing  ?     We  will  take  it  for  granted  that  we  would. 

But  human  wisdom  and  earthly  love  could  not  do  more  than 
God  has  done  to  save  sinners.  In  the  threefold  distinction  of 
the  divine  nature,  we  hold  there  is  that  which  is  called  "  the 
Word,"  which  "  was  in  the  beginning  with  God,"  and  which 
"  was  God."^  Then,  seemingly  guarding  against  the  SabeUian 
theory  of  "  manifestation,"  it  is  said  again,  "  The  same  was  in 
the  beginning  with  God  j "  not  therefore  God  filling  a  human 
body  and  soul  with  influence,  and  so  making  a  mere  demon- 
stration of  divinity,  but  it  was  the  Word,  who  was  not  only 
God,  but  ("great  is  the  mystery")  "with  God,"  indicating 
both  union  and  distinctness.  He  became  flesh,  and  dwelt 
among  us. 

His  great  object  was  to  take  the  sinner's  place  as  a  saai- 
fice  for  sins.  He  did  not  interpose  between  a  wrathful  being 
and  his  victims.  For  the  sake,  perhaps,  of  keeping  up  in  the 
human  mind  the  idea  of  Deity  unmixed  with  our  nature,  the 
Father  is  familiarly  called  "  God,"  and  yet  as  often  "  God  the 
Father,"  which  word  "  Father "  would  be,  in  numerous  in- 
stances, an  unwarrantable  pleonasm,  if  "  our  heavenly  Father," 

1  John  i.  1. 


17T 


and  not  a  person  in  the  Trinity,  were  intended.  "  The 
Word,"  by  union  with  human  nature,  it  is  supposed,  was  con- 
stituted "  Son,"  and  so  acted  in  a  subordinate  capacity  ;  and  so 
we  are  told,  Avithout  further  explanation  of  the  mystery  in  the 
Godhead,  that  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  That  he  died,  we  know ; 
that  he  did  not  die  for  his  own  sins,  we  know ;  ^  that  "  in 
due  time  Christ  died  for  th^  ungodly,"  we  know.^  "  He  was 
wounded  for  our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised  for  our  in- 
iquities ;  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him,  and 
with  his  stripes  we  are  healed."  ^  It  is  said  of  him,  "  Whom 
God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his 
blood,  to  declare  his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins 
that  are  past,  through  the  forbearance  of  God  ;  to  declare,  I 
say,  at  this  time,  his  righteousness,  that  he  might  be  just, 
and  thejustifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus."  "*  The  terms 
of  salvation  for  every  penitent  sinner  are,  "  Believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  ^  "  He  that  be- 
lieveth on  him  is  not  condemned."  "Being  now  justified  by 
his  blood,  we  shall  be  saved  from  wrath  through  him."  ^  "  If 
any  man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus 
Christ  the  righteous  ;  and  he  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins, 
and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world."  '^  All  are  invited  to  accept  pardon  and  salvation  by 
pleading  the  sufferings  and  death  of  this  Redeemer;  and  it 
is  then  said,  "  There  is  therefore  now  no  condemnation  to  them 
which  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but 
after  the  Spirit."  ^ 

To  enforce  these  offers  of  mercy,  and  to  supply  all  need- 
ful help  in  being  saved,  there  is  One,  equal  in  his  nature  with 

1  Dan.  ix.  26.      3  is.  liii.  5.  6  Acts  xvi.  31.        7  1  John  ii.  1,  2. 

8  Rom.  V.  6.        4  Rom.  lii.  25.  ^  Rom.  v.  9.  8  Rom.  viii.  1. 


178  THE     REASONABLENESS     OP 

the  Father  and  the  Son,  to  whom  is  committed  the  work  of 
carrying  redemption  into  effect  in  the  hearts  of  men.  The 
Holy  Ghost,  by  the  plan  of  salvation,  succeeds  Christ,  and 
strives  with  men.  The  Bible  is  put  into  their  hands ;  an 
order  of  men  is  appointed  for  the  special  purpose  of  being 
"  ambassadors  for  Christ,"  "  as  though  God  did  beseech  them," 
and  they  pray  them  "  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to 
God."  ^  One  day  in  seven  is  set  apart  by  divine  authority  for 
special  attention  lo  this  subject.  A  most  touching  ordinance 
is  divinely  appointed,  wiiich  every  month  or  two  appeals  to 
their  senses,  and  most  powerfully  to  their  hearts.  It  is  no 
less  than  a  simple  representation,  by  two  appropriate  symbols, 
of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Redeemer  pleading  with  man, 
"  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me."  ^  Frequently  one  and 
another  is  converted  from  his  sins,  and  accepts  this  of- 
fered mercy ;  others  confess  the  reality  and  beauty  of  the 
change,  but  they  continue  in  their  own  chosen  ways..  Mem- 
bers of  their  families  experience  this  change,  and  God  thus 
draws  them  "  by  the  cords  of  a  man,  with  bands  of  love  ;  " 
"but,"  he  is  compelled  to  add,  "they  knew  not  that  I 
healed  them."  ^  And  now  the  angel  of  death  comes  into 
their  dwellings  ;  all  the  softening  influences  of  sickness,  and 
the  benign  influences  of  sorrow,  persuade  them  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  God,  and  all  in  vain.  From  lips  soon  to  close  in 
death,  appeals  are  made  to  them  with  all  the  love  of  a  wife, 
or  child,  or  pastor ;  or,  it  may  be,  a  partner  in  business  sends 
word  from  his  dying  pillow,  and  asks  them,  "  What  shall  it 
profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  owr 
soul  ?  Or  what  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his 
soul ?  "  4 

God  in  his  word  has  told  them  that  he  will  confine  his 
efforts  for  their  salvation  within  the  limits  of  their  natural  life, 

1  2  Cor.  V.  20.        2  Luke  xxii.  19.       3  Hosea  xi.  4.  3.       <  Matt  xvi.  26. 


FUTURE,  ENDLESS  PUNISHMENT.    179 

and  with  urgent  love  he  says,  "  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth 
to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might,  for  there  is  no  work,  nor  device, 
nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom  in  the  grave  whither  thou  goest."^ 

Among  the  closing  words  of  the  Bible  these  accents  fall  on 
their  ears  like  the  last  notes  of  a  bell  that  calls  to  the  house  of 
pvajer:  "  He  that  is  unjust  let  him  be  unjust  still,  and  he  that 
is  filthy  let  him  be  filthy  still,  and  he  that  is  righteous  let 
him  be  righteous  still,  and  he  that  is  holy  let  him  be  holy 
still."  ^  The  vast  majority  of  all  who  receive  the  Bible  as 
the  word  of  God  unite  and  testify  "  how  that  Christ  died  for 
our  sins,  according  to  the  Scriptures  ;  "  ^  that  there  is  pardon 
through  his  blood  ;  that  he  "  delivered  us  from  the  wrath  to 
come ; "  *  and  that  no  probation  after  death  is  intimated  in 
the  Bible. 

But  notwithstanding  all  this,  men  refuse  to  repent  of  their 
sins,  and  they  persist  in  their  repugnance  to  God.  They  go 
into  the  next  world  from  amidst  these  influences  of  mercy,  in 
total  disregard  of  all  which  has  been  done  to  save  them. 

The  question  is,  What  is  it  reasonable  for  them  to  expect  ? 
Only  two  things  can  take  place.  Further  measures  will  be 
used  to  reclaim  them,  or,  They  must  be  forever  given  up  to 
sin  and  its  consequences. 

It  is  not  for  man  to  say  what  shall  now  take  place.  Will 
he  insist  that  the  sinner  shall  have  no  further  trial  ?  He 
must  not  prescribe  limits  to  the  mercy  of  God.  "  For  my 
tlioughts  are  not  your  thoughts,  neither  are  your  ways  my 
ways,  saith  the  Lord."  *  Will  man  insist  that  the  sinner 
ought  to  have  another  period  of  probation  ?  He  is  equally  at 
fault  if  he  dictates  to  the  justice  of  God.  Revelation  is  the 
only  source  of  knowledge  upon  this  subject.  Those  of  our 
race  wdio  have  received  the  word  of  God  implicitly,  and  have 

1  Ecc.  ix.  10.  3  1  Cor.  xv.  3.  5  jg.  Iv.  8. 

2  Rev.  xxii.  11.  •*  1  Thess.  i.  10. 


180  THE     REASONABLENESS     OF 

interpreted  that  book,  as  they  do  all  writings,  a  cordii  g  to 
its  most  obvious  import,  have,  with  inconsiderable  excep 
tions,  believed  that  eternal  pmiishment  is  revealed.  But 
it  is  with  the  reasonableness  of  the  doctrine  that  we  are 
now  concerned.  There  is  not  a  doctrine  of  revelation  —  God 
forbid  !  —  which  is  against  reason.  It  may  be  above  reason 
in  many  things,  but  it  never  contradicts  either  the  known  and 
established  principles  of  the  human  conscience  and  under- 
standing, nor  the  palpable  truths  of  human  experience  and 
observation.  Now,  upon  this  ground  we  plant  ourselves,  and 
say,  that,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  endless  future  punishment 
IS  reasonable.  He  who  disbelieves  the  evangelical  system 
cannot  prove  the  doctrine  to  be  reasonable.  Finding  future, 
eternal  punishment  disclosed  in  the  Bible,  it  commends  itself 
to  our  understanding  and  conscience  as  a  reasonable  truth. 

One  objection  to  it  is  this.     It  is  said,  — 

"  JEternal  'punishment  is  too  long  as  a  jyejialf?/  for  the  sins 
of  a  short  life^ 

None  but  God  can  judge  here.  The  important  question  is, 
Was  the  transgrec^or  duly  notified  ?  He  is  in  a  foreign  land, 
and  is  made  fully  acquainted  with  a  law  and  its  penalty, 
which  he  thinks  is  exceedingly  severe.  The  government, 
however,  have  special  reasons  for  the  enactment ;  but  he 
prefers  the  risk  of  the  penalty  to  the  loss  of  a  certain  benefit, 
and  is  without  excuse,  for  he  transgressed  with  his  eyes  open 

Is  it  just  for  one  to  lose  so  much  in  consequence  of  so 
brief  a  period  of  transgression  ?  This  depends  on  the  in- 
formation possessed  beforehand.  A  passenger  by  the  steamer 
does  not  expect  that,  if  notice  of  the  hour  of  departure  is  com 
municated  to  him,  the  bell  will  toll  a  whole  day,  or  even  an 
hour,  for  his  dilatoriness.  He  may  by  losing  the  voyage, 
change  the  prospect  of  Ufe,  and  one  half  minute  can  decide 
whether  it  shall  be  so. 


FUTURE,  ENDLESS  PUNISHMENT.    181 

Forgery,  arson,  manslaughter,  conceived  and  executed  in 
the  briefest  space  of  time,  have  no  valid  defence  in  the  short- 
ness of  the  time  occupied  by  the  deed.  A  day  is  not  too  short 
in  which  to  commit  a  crime  which  will  be  punished  by  im- 
prisonment for  life.  We  take  away  a  man's  whole  life,  and 
he  a  young  man,  for  an  act  committed  within  one  hour. 

If  a  note  has  matured,  bankruptcy  is  not  arrested  because 
the  promissor  received  only  one  notice. 

We  probably  never  heard  it  objected  to  eternal  salvation, 
that  it  is  too  long  to  be  the  consequence  and  reward  of  this 
brief  life.  That  heaven  is  promised  to  the  righteous,  and  that 
it  will  be  without  end,  no  one  doubts.  But  what  if  we  should 
say,  as  we  might  with  as  good  reason  as  in  objecting  to  end- 
less punishment,  '  Life  is  too  short  in  which  to  merit  heaven  ; 
we  ought  to  be  subjected  after  death  to  a  longer  probation, 
be  placed  in  new  circumstances  of  trial  for  a  period  that 
should  bear  some  proportion  to  the  greatness  of  the  reward.' 
What  period  of  trial  would  be  thought  an  equivalent  for  meas- 
u  .-eless  felicity,  it  would  be  hard  indeed  to  say ;  and  we  are 
herefore  led  to  the  principle  that  the  length  of  time  in  which 
good  or  evil  actions  take  place  is  no  proper  measure  of  their 
desert.     We  act  upon  this  principle  in  every  thing. 

Much  use  is  made  of  this  objection  to  endless  punishment 
as  urged  by  the  late  Rev.  John  Foster,  an  evargelical  Bap- 
tist, of  England.  He  writes  a  letter  to  a  youiyg  ministerial 
friend  who  had  asked  his  views  on  the  subject  of  endless 
punishment.  Mr.  Foster  says  that  he  has  made  much  less 
research  into  this  subject  than  his  young  friend  had  probably 
done,  and  that  he  had  been  "  too  content,  perhaps,  to  let  an 
opinion  or  impression  admitted  in  early  life  dispense  with 
protracted  inquiry  and  various  reading."  He  then  says, 
"  The  general,  not  very  far  short  of  universal,  judgment  of 
divioi??  in  aff-'mation  of  the  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment, 
16     . 


182  THE     EEASONABLENESS     OF 

must  be  acknowledged  a  weighty  consideration.  It  is  a  fail 
question,  is  it  likely  that  so  many  thousands  of  able,  learned, 
benevolent,  and  pious  men  should  all  have  been  in  error  ? 
And  the  language  of  Scripture  is  formidably  strong  ;  so  strong 
that  it  must  be  an  argument  of  extreme  cogency  that  w  m\d 
authorize  a  limited  interpretation." 

But  his  answer  to  all  this  is,  in  his  own  words,  —  "tho 
stupendous  idea  of  eternity,"  —  upon  which  he  proceeds  to 
dwell  with  great  power. 

To  this,  one  reply  may  be,  that  the  great  and  good  men  of 
all  evangelical  denominations,  as  capable  as  Mr.  Foster  of 
appreciating  the  awful  idea  of  eternity,  "  have  generally,"  and, 
as  he  himself  says,  "  not  very  far  short  of  universally,"  received 
this  doctrine.  Almost  every  believer  in  it  has,  at  some  time, 
had  some  relation  or  friend  whose  condition  at  death  excited 
fearful  thoughts,  and  clothed  the  grave  with  more  than  mid- 
night darkness.  The  very  strongest  temptations  have  thus 
been  presented  to  believers  in  the  doctrine  to  find  or  create 
insuperable  objections  to  it;  yet  the  vast  majority  of  Christian 
believers  who  have  lost  friends  concerning  whose  condition 
they  entertain  but  little  hope,  remain  persuaded  that  the  doc- 
trine is  revealed.  Mr.  Foster  had  no  knowledge  or  penetra- 
tion which  they  did  not  possess ;  he  also  "  was  formed  out  of 
the  clay ; "  he  could  substantiate  no  claim  to  have  his  feelings 
of  repugnance  regarded  as  paramount  to  the  feelings  of  sub- 
mission and  faith  with  which  his  Christian  brethren,  in  the 
hour  of  their  sorrow,  have  deliberately  declared  their  belief  in 
this  doctrine. 

But  w^e  are  furnished  with  another  reply,  in  a  letter  of  Mr. 
Foster  himself  to  Rev.  Dr.  Harris,  on  another  subject  and  at 
a  different  time,  in  which  he  describes  this  world  as  he  thinks 
it  would  strike  the  inhabitants  of  another  planet.  These  few 
wordj  will  show  the  tenor  of  his  remarks :  "  To  me  it  appears 


FUTURE,  ENDLESS  PUNISHMENT.    183 

a  most  mysteriously  awful  economy,  overspread  by  a  lurM 
shade.  I  pray  for  the  pie  y  to  maintain  a  humble  submission 
to  the  wise  and  righteous  Disposer  of  all  existence.  But  to 
see  a  nature,  created  in  purity,  ruined  at  the  very  origin,  &c., 
the  grand  remedial  visitation,  Christianity,  laboring  in  a  diffi- 
cult progress  —  soon  perverted  —  at  the  present  hour  known 
and  even  nominally  acknowledged  by  very  greatly  the  minority 
of  the  race  —  its  progress  distanced  by  the  increase  of  the 
population  —  thousands  every  day  passing  out  of  the  world  in 
no  state  of  fitness  for  a  pure  and  happy  state  elsewhere,  —  O,  it 
is  a  most  confounding  and  appalling  contemplation."  So  he 
describes  this  world  in  very  much  the  same  way  in  which  he 
has  depicted  future,  endless  retributions ;  and  we  may  say 
that  had  he  been  told  of  such  a  world  as  ours,  under  the  gov- 
ernment of  a  good  God,  he  would  have  had  misgivings  and 
objections  not  unlike  those  which  he  has  expressed  on  the 
subject  of  future  punishment.  He  excites  distrust  and  fear  in 
our  minds  with  regard  to  the  government  of  the  world.  We 
should  not  feel  happy  in  the  thought  that  God  reigns,  nor 
could  we  see  how  the  multitude  of  the  isles  should  be  glad 
thereof,  should  we  live  under  the  influence  of  such  views  as 
those  of  this  truly  able  and  excellent  man. 

It  is  objected  again  that  "  a  mere  mortal  cannot^  hy  any  sins 
which  he  can  commit,  merit  endless  punishment" 

Whether  he  actually  does  incur  it,  we  say  again,  must  be 
assertained  from  revelation.  In  reply  to  this  objection,  we  are 
to  remember  that  it  is  not  one  single  transgression  which  God 
is  called  upon  to  punish  —  a  sudden,  unpremeditated,  or  even 
one  deliberate  act,  for  which  act  the  sinner  is  sorry ;  but  it  is 
continued  disobedience,  in  opposition  to  all  the  methods  of 
divine  love  and  wisdom  employed  to  turn  us  from  our  sins. 
Conscience  has  faithfully  done  her  work  until  she  was  seared  ; 
war':\ings  and  threatenings  have  exhausted  their  strength ;  the 


184  THE     REASONABLENESS     OP 

cross  of  Clirist  and  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  have 
proved  of  no  avail. 

There  may  be  little  sins  against  some  of  the  gods  of  hea- 
thenism, but  there  can  be  no  little  sin  against  Jehovah.  But 
how  is  man  "  little  "  ?  He  has  competent  knowledge  of  the 
character  of  God  ;  he  is  only  "  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,"  ^ 
and  has  dominion  over  all  the  works  of  God.  He  can  com- 
prehend the  starry  heavens ;  he  is  Godlike  in  his  original 
nature,  for  "  in  the  image  of  God  made  he  him."  The  sublime 
truths  which  God  has  revealed  to  man  show  what  estimate 
God  has  of  man's  capacity  and  responsibility.  A  finite  crea- 
ture can  insult  the  majesty  of  heaven  as  deliberately  and  in- 
telligently as  the  archangel ;  he  can  annihilate  the  authority 
of  God  in  his  own  soul,  and  wherever  he  has  influence ;  if  all 
finite  creatures  should  do  this,  —  and  there  are  no  creatures 
who  are  not  finite,  —  there  would  be  no  moral  universe,  no 
divine  government. 

It  is  said,  "  It  is  a  libel  on  the  character  of  God  to  believe 
that  he  can  bear  to  punish  his  children  for  ever  J^ 

Had  we  known  beforehand  that  God  was  to  create  offspring 
whom  he  would  teach  to  call  him  by  the  endearing  name  of 
Father,  and  then  should  see  four  hundred  of  these  his  children 
in  such  a  scene  of  indescribable  agony  and  destruction  as  was 
recently  witnessed  on  board  the  "  Central  America,"  we  should 
say,  the  analogy  between  divine  and  human  parentage  surely 
is  imperfect.  God  is  something  besides  a  "  Father ;  "  he  is 
King  and  Judge.  Men  never  discipline  their  childi'en  by  drown- 
ing them,  and  burning  them,  and  tearing  them  in  pieces.  The 
destruction  of  the  Canaanites  for  their  iniquity  is  so  terrible, 
that  some,  for  that  reason,  reject  the  Old  Testament,  which 
approves  it.     God's  judgments  are  a  great  deep.     True,  "he 

1  Psalm  viii. 


FJTURE,  ENDLESS  PUNISHMENT.    185 

made  birds  and  flowers ;  "  all  the  exquisite  sensibilities  of  the 
human  sys^.em  are  his  gift;  the  natural  and  moral  world  are, 
by  his  love  and  skill,  most  beautifully  adapted  to  each  other  ; 
and  will  he  hide  his  face  forever  from  a  single  child  ?  No, 
nol,  unless  that  child  persists  to  hide  his  face  and  withhold  his 
heart  from  God.  "  For  he  will  not  lay  on  man  more  than  is 
right,  that  he  should  enter  into  judgment  with  God."^  He 
is  seeking  continually  to  make  his  children  love  him.  The 
Sabbath  day  perpetually  reminds  every  one  of  them  of  God. 
Church  spires  every  where  point  to  heaven.  Church-going 
bells  call  men  to  prayer,  and  to  hear  the  gospel.  Friends, 
by  their  words  and  example,  persuade  men  to  love  and  serve 
God.  How  many  people  are  there,  probably,  in  this  city,  for 
example,  who  have  not  had,  and  do  not  have,  not  only  oppor- 
tunity, but  persuasion  of  some  kind,  within  and  without,  to  fear 
God  ?  There  are  few,  if  any,  who  see  the  lightning  or  hear  the 
thunder,  without  having  the  thought  of  their  accountableness 
flash  through  their  minds.  If  but  a  hearse  appears  in  the 
streets,  all  who  see  it  are  left  without  excuse  should  they  die 
in  their  sins.  "  By  the  things  which  are  made "  God  is  so 
"clearly  seen,"  that  even  idolaters  are  "without  excuse;" 
much  more  they  who,  to  say  no  m  >re,  live  where  the  Christian 
Sabbath,  like  the  quiet  moon,  at  short  and  regular  intervals, 
arrests  and  turns  the  mighty  tide  of  human  affairs,  so  that 
even  the  prisoner  in  his  cell  feels  it  hfting  and  bearing  him 
heavenward,  and  the  Sabbath-breaker  himself,  by  the  \  ery  in- 
crease of  his  gains  on  that  day,  or  by  the  opportunity  fijr 
sloth,  or  by  the  feeling  which  leads  him  to  hasten  or  delay  his 
drive,  to  avoid  the  church-going  people,  has  conviction  of  sin 
and  admonition  of  duty  sufficient  to  bar  excuses  and  to  mak  i 
him  speechless  in  the  day  when  God  rises  up  to  judgment. 
But  at  last  the  day  of  life  is  over  —  the  period  within  which 

1  Job  xxxiv.  23. 

16* 


186  THE     RE  \SON  A.BLENESS     OF 

God  told  us  that  his  efforts  for  our  conversion  would  be  limited, 
and  after  which,  he  warned  us,  would  be  the  judgment,  and 
endless  retributioti.  Some  said  that  this  was  impossible  in  the 
nature  of  t'lings.  They  were  told  that  the  Bible  literally 
declared  it.  They  said  that  it  was  figurative,  or  a  parable 
They  were  reminded  of  the  words  of  Jesus,  the  final  Judge, 
relating  the  very  words  of  the  last  sentence  upon  the  wicked. 
Tiiey  said  that  the  God  who  made  spring,  and  birds,  and  flow- 
ers, and  human  affections,  and  who  is  himself  a  Father,  could 
not  see  men  suffer  witliout  end.  But  the  love  of  God,  they 
are  told,  is  not  seen  in  spring,  and  birds,  and  flowers,  and  hu- 
man happiness,  so  much  as  in  this,  that  "  God  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.'* 
*'  Herein  is  love ;  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us, 
and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins."  ^  But 
all  this  proves  of  no  avail ;  they  go  to  "  the  judgment  seat  of 
Christ,"  "  every  one,"  to  "  receive  the  things  done  in  the  body, 
whether  it  be  good  or  bad."  ^ 

Shall  God  now  violate  the  fundamental  characteristic  of 
their  constitution,  that  is,  free  agency,  and  instead  of  governing 
them  by  motives,  tre'at  them  like  moulded  clay,  which,  when  it 
does  not  suit  him,  the  potter  presses  together  again  on  the 
wheel,  and  makes  of  it  another  vessel  ?  That  is  not  such  a 
government  as  God  chooses  to  administer,  but  a  government 
of  motives,  addressed  to  free  and  accountable  creatures.  What 
shall  now  be  done  with  those  whom  God  has  failed  in  his 
efforts  to  turn  and  save  ?  Some  reply,  "  He  ought  to  punish 
tliem  till  they  do  repent." 

And  yet  they  who  say  this,  many  of  them,  tell  us,  as  one 
great  argument  against  future,  endless  punishment,  that  "  we 
have  mis^iy  enough  in  this  world,  without  being  punished  in 

1  John  iv.  10.  2  2  Cor.  v.  10. 


FUTURE,    ENDLESS    PUNISHMENT.         187 

tlie  next."  Therefore,  by  their  own  acknowledgment,  God 
has  ah-eady  used  dreadful  methods  of  chastisement  with  them ; 
so  great  that  they  say  there  cannot  be  any  future  punishment 
of  sin.  Yet  these  mortal  agonies  of  body  and  mind,  these  life- 
long trials  and  sorrows,  have  failed  to  make  them  love  and 
serve  God.  Will  it  be  useful  that  he  should  proceed  and 
punish  them  further?  Can  God  heap  upon  them  sorrows 
more  bitter  than  they  have  felt  at  the  graves  of  their  loved 
ones,  and  at  their  return  from  those  graves  to  their  desolated 
dwellings  ?  Are  there  other  strokes  of  his  lightnings  better 
fitted  to  rive  and  consume  their  spirits  than  those  with  which 
they  have  already  been  struck  ?  It  is  not  reasonable.  The 
wrath  of  God  is  not  "  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of 
God  unto  salvation."  ^  We  have  a  different  opinion  respecting 
our  Maker  from  that  which  leads  one  to  believe  that  anger, 
fury,  vengeance  are  the  perfection  of  his  governmental  influ- 
ences ;  as  they  surely  are,  if  they  are  more  efficacious  than 
the  love  which  he  has  manifested  in  the  Son  of  his  love. 

God  himself  says,  "  What  more  could  be  done  to  my  vine- 
yard that  I  have  not  done  in  it  ?  " 

We  suppose,  therefore,  —  and  we  think  it  is  reasonable,  — 
that  if  we  do  not  repent  of  our  sins,  and  are  not  willing  to 
accept  Christ,  and  all  the  efforts  of  mercy  to  save  us,  God  will 
suffer  us  to  sin  against  him  forever.  He  will  not  hinder 
us  from  having  our  own  chosen  way.  Shall  we  rebel  against 
this  ?  Will  we  say,  "  This  is  cruel ;  it  is  tyrannical,  unworthy 
of  God,  our  heavenly  Father,  to  let  us  have  our  own  choice  r 
That  choice,  we  know,  is  not  good  ;  but  he  ought  to  make  us 
good.  What !  suffer  us  to  sin  against  him  forever ! "  We 
chose  to  sin  against  him  as  long  as  we  could ;  and  now  it  is 
not  unreasonable  to  give  us  the  desire  of  our  hearts.  But 
God  may  say.  This  I  will  do.  I  will  place  all  of  you  ivho 
1  Eom.  i.  16 ;  1  Cor.  i.  18,  24. 


188  THE    REASONABLENESS    OF 

sin,  in  a  world  by  yourselves,  from  which  I  and  my  friends 
will  forever  withdraw.  Perhaps  we  secretly  say,  "  If  this  be 
all,  we  do  not  so  much  object.  This  is  not  hell."  But  sup- 
pose that  when  God  withdraws  from  us,  he  takes  every  thing 
away  with  him.  This  present  world  cannot  be  a  pattern  of 
a  world  where  all  is  sin.  For  this  world  was  made  for  an 
upright  race,  and  when  they  fell,  nature  itself,  in  most  things, 
survived  the  fall.  We  are  not  to  suppose  that  the  wicked 
will  find  themselves  in  a  world  of  beauty,  where  they  may 
reconstruct  society  after  the  model  of  the  present  life,  and 
where  they  shall  enjoy  liberty  and  all  the  blessings  of  God's 
providence.  But  if  God  departs  from  them,  it  is  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  he  will  leave  them  no  proofs  of  his  love  to 
them  whatever ;  for  he  says,  "  Woe  also  unto  them  when  I 
depart  from  them."  ^  He  would  take  away,  we  must  sup- 
pose, all  their  domestic  relations,  friendships,  social  pleasures, 
books,  every  pursuit  of  knowledge,  music,  travels,  quiet  sleep, 
mornino^  and  eveninof  salutations  of  loved  ones,  and  chan^^e 
the  whole  face  of  nature;  for  God  would  not  hh.e  made  so 
many  things  just  to  give  pleasure,  had  he  made  this  world  for 
the  permanent  abode  of  rebels ;  and  when  we  leave  this 
world,  if  we  have  shut  God  out  of  it  by  our  sins,  we  cannot 
expect  to  find  a  beautiful  world  Hke  this  prepared  for  our 
abode.  It  is  of  great  use  to  us  to  see  good  people  here ;  we 
feel  safer  to  think  that  there  are  churches  and  meetings  for 
prayer,  and  the  Lord's  supper,  though  we  decline  any  part  in 
them.  These  things  are  for  our  profit ;  and  the  good  and  the 
bad  share  alike,  because  this  is  a  state  of  probation,  not  of 
reward.  But  if  we  refuse  to  be  won  by  these  things,  then  it 
may  be  as  though  a  certain  vision  of  Jeremiah  were,  in  some 
sense,  fulfill  id  in  our  future  abode.  He  describes  Jerusalem 
w  isted,  and  a  1  her  people  gone  into  captivity.  "  I  beheld  the 
1  Hosea  ix.  12. 


FUTURE,  ENDLESS  PUNISHMENT.    189 

earth,  and  lo,  it  was  without  form  and  void ;  and  the  i.eavens, 
and  they  had  no  light.  I  beheld  the  mountains,  and  lo,  they 
trembled,  and  all  the  hills  moved  lightly.  I  beheld,  and  lo, 
there  was  no  man,  and  all  the  birds  of  heaven  were  fled."  ^ 
When  God  tells  us  what  heaven  is,^  he  describes  the  pop- 
ulation of  them  that  are  "  without  —  dogs,  sorcerers,"  and 
others ;  as  though  he  said,  '  I  will  gather  sinners  together  in 
one  place,  bring  together  all  the  obscene,  liars,  murderers, 
pirates,  idolaters,  into  one  community  with  you  whose  tastes 
have  been  cultivated ;  for  why  should  I  discriminate  between 
those  who  have  together  rebelled  against  me,  and  rejected  my 
Son  ? '  If  to  any,  by  reason  of  their  great  accomplishments  of 
mind  and  manners,  this  will  be  specially  intolerable,  they  must 
remember  that  in  those  endowments  they  have  special  motives 
and  helps  towards  being  saved,  and  to  save  others.  "  Thou  in 
thy  lifetime  receivedst  thy  good  things ; "  but  "  thou  mayes* 
be  no  longer  steward." 

"Would  there  be  any  thing  unreasonable  in  this  ?  In  view 
of  all  which  God  has  done  to  save  the  soul,  in  view  of  the 
full  notice  which  we  have  received  that  this  life  is  our  only 
period  of  probation,  and  the  opportunities  which  we  have  had 
to  secure  eternal  life,  w^e  cannot  accuse  the  Almighty  of  in- 
justice if  we  find  that  there  is  no  opportunity  after  death  to 
repent  and  believe  the  gospel.  Above  all,  we  cannot  reason- 
ably expect,  from  what  we  already  know  of  God,  that  having 
expended  upon  us  all  which  the  gospel  of  his  grace  includes, 
he  will,  upon  the  failure  of  that  which  is  "  the  brightness  of 
his  glory,"  put  us  into  a  prison,  and  wear  out  our  spirits  with 
suffering,  and  thus  reduce  us,  like  refractory  culprits,  to  a 
state  of  mind  in  which  we  cannot  refuse  to  love  him.  Such 
is  not  the  Being  whom  many  of  us  delight  to  call  our  heavenly 
Father.  If  any  worship  such  a  God  as  this,  they  have  their 
1  Jer.  iv.  23-25.  2  Rev.  xxu.  14. 


190  THE    REASONABLENESS    OF 

liberty  to  do  so ;  but  let  tbem  not  complain  to  us  of  unreason 
ableness  in  our  views  of  God. 

It  seems  reasonable,  therefore,  to  believe,  in  common  with 
the  vast  majority  in  all  ages  of  those  who  receive  the  Bible 
as  the  word  of  God,  that  all  who  fail  to  repent  and  accept  the 
pardon  of  their  sins  through  Jesus  Christ  in  this  life,  will  al 
death  find  those  words  to  be  literally  true,  which  seem  to  be 
placed  among  the  last  words  of  the  Bible  by  divine  arrange- 
ment, for  the  solemn  effect  which  they  always  have  upon  the 
human  heart :  "  He  that  is  unjust  let  him  be  unjust  still,  and 
he  that  is  filthy  let  him  be  filthy  still,  and  he  that  is  righteous 
let  him  be  righteous  still,  and  he  that  is  holy  let  him  be 
holy  still.  And  behold  I  come  quickly ;  and  my  reward  is 
with  me,  to  give  every  man  according  as  his  work  shall  be."^ 

As  to  the  heathen,  we  are  not  their  judge.  The  first  and 
second  chapters  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  however,  are 
very  explicit  with  regard  to  them.  "  The  invisible  things  of 
God,"  that  is,  "  his  eternal  power  and  Godhead,"  "  are  clearly 
seen,  being  understood  by  the  things  that  are  made ;  so  that 
they  are  without  excuse."  ^  We  are  told  that  "  they  hold  the 
truth,"  but  "  in  unrighteousness ; "  therefore  it  is  said,  "  the 
wrath  of  God  is  revealed  from  heaven  against "  them.^  We 
sometimes  hear  a  passage,  in  this  connection,  quoted  thus  : 
"  For  as  many  as  have  sinned  without  law  shall  also  be 
judged  without  law."  Not  so.  It  reads,  "  For  as  many  as 
have  sinned  without  law  shall  also  perish  without  law.**  It  is  a 
common  remark,  but  it  will  bear  repetition,  "  We  shall  either 
find  the  heathen  in  heaven,  if  we  ourselves  are  there,  or  see 
good  and  satisfactory  reasons  for  their  not  being  there." 

Far  too  much  is  made  of  the  question,  and  great  injury  has 
been  done  by  it,  whether  or  not   there  will  be  literal   fire  in 

1  Rev.  xxii.  11,  12.        2  Rom.  i.  20.        3  Rom.  i.  18.        •♦  Rom.  ii.  12. 


FUTURE,  ENDLESS  PUNISHMENT.    191 

the  future  punishment  of  the  wicked.  It  is  well  to  discourage 
such  a  discussion.  We  shall  have  bodies  after  the  resurrec- 
tion, for  "  all  that  are  in  their  graves  shall  hear  the  voice  of 
the  Son  of  man,  and  shall  come  forth,  they  that  have  done  good 
unto  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  they  that  have  done  evil 
unto  the  resurrection  of  damnation."  Our  bodies  will,  of 
course,  be  of  a  less  spiritual  nature  than  the  soul,  otherwise 
two  souls  will  be  conjoined  in  one  person.  We  naturally  sup- 
pose that  the  object  of  the  body  will  be  to  relate  the  soul  to 
an  external  world ;  as  glass,  in  the  telescope,  though  a  grosser 
object  than  the  eye,  helps  vision,  so  the  body  will  aid  the  soul 
hereafter,  as  here.  This  we  all  admit.  Now,  in  what  ele- 
ment, if  any,  the  righteous  or  the  wicked  will  live  hereafter, 
is  of  no  possible  importance  to  us,  seeing  that  the  primary 
source  of  happiness  or  misery  with  intelligent  creatvU-es  must 
be  mental,  and  if  there  be  external  sources  of  pleasure  or 
suffering,  they  are  mere  circumstances  in  their  condition  ;  they 
are  not  the  substantive  occasion  of  their  joy  or  sorrow.  To 
represent  the  Most  High  as  inflicting  tortures  on  the  bodies 
of  the  wicked  strikes  us  as  unworthy  of  the  conceptions  con- 
cerning God  with  which  the  Bible  inspires  us.  A  world  of 
sinners,  unmitigated  by  the  presence  of  a  single  good  being, 
God  himself  and  all  his  restraining  influences  forever  with- 
drawn, needs  no  penal  fires  to  increase  our  sense  of  its  horror; 
indeed,  they  rather  detract  from  our  ideas  of  the  most  intense 
misery.  If  all  that  is  personified  by  "  death,"  and  all  the 
mental,  moral,  and  social  elements  of  what  is  called  ''  hell " 
are  to  be  "  cast  into  a  lake  of  fire,"  every  intelligent  person 
would  suppose  that  the  element  containing  them  would  be  of 
little  importance.  They  would  be  no  more  to  the  inhabitants 
than  the  element  of  water  could  be  to  Pontius  Pilate,  whom  a 
great  poet  represents  as  in  a  flood,  his  hands  above  it,  and  he 

washing  them,  ,,^^r^.- ^      i, 

°  "  Which  still  unwashen  strove," 


192  THE    REASONABLENESS    OF 

in  memory  of  his  taking  water  to  wash  those  hands  of  a  certain 
prisoner's  blood.  No  one  would  suppose  that  living  in  the 
element  of  water  could  be  a  principal  source  of  misery  in 
such  a  punishment.  But  we  read,  '  Then  shall  the  King  say 
also  unto  them  on  the  left  hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed, 
into  everlasting  fii'e,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels.' 
Figurative  language,  it  may  justly  be  said,  is  out  of  place  in 
a  judicial  sentence,  for,  of  all  utterances,  this  should  be  as 
strictly  literal  as  justice  itself. 

If,  now,  we  should  believe,  on  this  single  passage,  or  for  any 
other  reason,  that  the  element  in  which  future  retribution  will 
be  administered  is  declared  to  be  fire,  instead  of  air,  or  water, 
or  earth,  we  should  do  vast  injustice  to  the  subject  o£  divine 
retributions  to  intrude  the  idea.  I  refer  to  it,  therefore,  for 
a  purpose,  which  seems  to  me  important,  of  vindicating  our 
belief  in  future,  endless  retributions  from  imputations  of 
grossness  and  physical  b^ft-barity.  We  use  the  language  of 
the  Saviour  and  of  his  apostles  without  hesitation,  and  there 
we  stop.  Any  details  of  the  curse,  and  of  the  punishment, 
and  of  what  is  "  prepared,"  would  add  nothing  to  our  concep- 
tions of  the  dread  sentence  from  the  lips  of  Him  whose  "  left 
hand  "  was  once  nailed  to  the  atoning  cross,  for  those  whom 
he  bids  "  Depart." 

If  the  language  of  Christ  in  that  last  sentence,  and  in  other 
places,  relating  to  future  j)unishment,  be  figurative,  we  remem- 
ber that,  by  the  laws  of  the  human  mind,  figurative  language 
is  generally  resorted  to  in  consequence  of  insufficiency  in 
literal  terms.  We  do  not  cavil  at  the  use  of  figurative  speech, 
nor  subtract  from  its  intention,  when  we  know  that  the  speaker 
is  serious  and  earnest.  If  a  master  in  chancery  informs  a 
man  that  his  property  has  proved  "  to  be  zero,"  the  man  will 
not  remind  his  friends,  nor  insist  with  his  creditors,  that  the 
expression  is  only  metaphorical. 


FUTURE,  ENDLESS  PUNISHMENT.    193 


We  believe  that  the  threatening  of  future,  endless  punish- 
ment has  been  one  great  means  of  what  little  fear  of  God 
there  has  hitherto  been  in  this  world;  and  that  it  has  been  a 
powerful  element  in  the  causes  which  have  led  to  the  salvation 
of  the  "  multitude  which  no  man  can  number,"  who  "  fled  foi 
refuge  to  lay  hold  upon  the  hope  set  before  them."  We  are 
not  ashamed  to  saj  that  we  believe  in,  and  we  fear,  the  ever- 
lasting wrath  of  God,  and  that  this  has  been  a  means  of  lead- 
ing us  to  believe  in  "  his  Son  from  heaven,  even  Jesus,  which 
delivered  us  from  the  wrath  to  come."  i 

Nor  is  our  doctrine  one  that  narrows  and  enfeebles  the  mind. 
It  is  connected  with  a  stupendous  system  of  truths.  It  leads 
us  to  believe  that  this  world,  small  as  it  is,  is  made  use  of  by 
the  Creator  to  illustrate  principles  in  his  government,  "  to  the 
intent  that  now  unto  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly 
places  may  be  known  by  the  church  the  manifold  wisdom  of 
God."  2 

That  this  world  is  the  smallest  but  two  in  the  planetary 
system,  is  no  more  a  valid  objection  to  its  being  used  for 
infinite  pui-poses  of  wdsdom,  than  it  would  be  to  object  to  the 
size  of  the  slate  on  which  La  Place  wrought  out  his  logarithms 
for  his  Mecanique  Celeste.  God  is  solving  problems  in  this 
world  with  sin ;  the  results  may  enter  into  the  practical  knowl- 
edge of  unnumbered  worlds,  as  the  answers  to  problems  are 
transferred  to  books  of  navigation,  and  are  the  confidence  of 
them  that  are  afar  off  upon  the  sea.  Our  own  Lexington  and 
Bunker  Hill  were  not  too  small  for  transactions  which  brought 
this  nation  into  being  ;  nor  did  one  field  in  Waterloo  prove  too 
small  to  have  the  destiny  of  half  of  Europe  decided  there. 
The  cross  of  a  Redeemer  has  stood  here  ;  things  are  asso^ 
ciated  with  it  which  we  are  told  "  angels  desire  to  look  into."  ^ 
"All  things  were  created  by  him  and  for  him,  and  he  is  before 

1  1  Thcss.  i.  10.  2  Eph.  iii.  10.  S  1  Peter  i.  12. 

17 


194  THE    REASONABLENESS    OP 

all  things,  iind  by  him  all  things  consist."  ^  "  We  see  Jesus, 
who  was  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  for  the  suffering 
of  death,  crowned  with  glory  and  honor ;  that  he,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  should  taste  death  for  every  man."  So  we  belieye  in 
a  sacrifice  for  sin,  which  is  made  infinitely  efficacious  by  the 
presence  in  the  person  of  Jesus  of  the  Word,  who  was  "  with 
God,"  and  "  was  God."  In  such  a  Redeemer  and  in  such  a 
redemption  we  see  our  infinite  ruin.  We  believe  that  God 
will  show,  by  means  of  those  who  reject  this  redemption,  what 
sin  is  capable  of  doing,  and  then,  by  letting  sinners  eat  of  the 
fruit  of  their  own  ways,  and  filling  them  with  their  own 
devices,  perhaps  he  will,  by  the  help  of  it,  so  instruct  and 
govern  the  universe  of  free,  accountable  beings,  that  it  shaH 
forever  be  said,  "  Dominion  and  fear  are  with  him ;  he  maketh 
peace  in  his  high  places."  ^  An  endless  heaven  is  prepared, 
in  which  the  righteous  will  have  bodies  "  fashioned  like  unto 
Christ's  glorious  body,  according  to  the  working  whereby  he 
is  able  even  to  subdue  all  things  unto  himself."  Thus  being 
associated  most  wonderfully  with  the  incarnate  Word,  they 
will  be  the  objects  of  love  with  all  who  worship  at  the  throne 
of  God  and  of  the  Lamb,  and  not  only  so,  but  with  Him  who 
will  say  of  us,  with  more  joy  than  that  with  which  he  regards 
the  ninety  and  nine  just  persons  who  need  no  repentance,  "  I 
have  found  the  sheep  tliat  was  lost." 

But,  in  the  mean  time,  we  read  that  "  the  Lord  Jesus  shall 
be  revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels,  in  flaming 
fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God,  and  that 
obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;"  —  such  is  tlie 
crime  and  the  accusation;  —  "who  shall  be  punished  with 
everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and 
from  the  glory  of  his  power,  when  he  shall  come  to  be  gloi-i 
fie^.'  in  his   saints,  and  to  be   admired  in  all  them  that   oe 

1  Col.  i.  16,  17  2  Job  XXV.  2. 


FUTURE,    ENDLESS    PUNISHMENT.         195 

lieve   (for  our  testimony  among  you   was  believed)    in  that 
day."^ 

The  penalty  annexed  to  a  law  is  all  that  makes  it  a  law; 
without  a  penalty,  it  is  no  more  a  law  thiui  an  extract  from  a 
sermon.  The  penalty  is  the  expression  of  the  lawgiver's 
opinion  of  the  crime.  There  is  something  in  weak  and  insuf- 
ficient penalties,  and  in  bail  far  below  the  offence,  which 
makes  the  heart  faint  and  sick.  It  must  inspire  holy  beings 
with  confidence,  who  know  what  sin  is,  and  what  it  deserves, 
and  what  it  would  do  to  them  if  it  could  triumph,  to  see  and 
feel  that  there  is  a  Supreme  Being,  who,  with  all  his  love,  has 
no  doting  fondness,  nor  any  weakness,  but  can  bear  to  see  the 
wicked  suffer,  if  necessary  and  right.  They  consider  his 
word,  "  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die,"  and  they  see  in  if: 
the  foundation  of  their  confidence  in  God.  How  much  evil  is 
there  in  sin?  It  is  itself  evil;  anti-governmental,  subverting 
every  form  of  happiness  ;  its  tendency,  as  we  have  seen,  is  to 
dethrone  God.  If  God  affixes  less  than  an  infinite  punish- 
ment to  sin,  it  shows  that  he  considers  it  less  than  an  infinite 
evil.  If  the  penalty  threatened  against  such  a  sin  be  less  than 
infinite,  the  natural  inference  would  be.  To  sin  against  God  is 
not  an  infinite  evil,  for  it  has  no  infinite  punishment.  Men 
could  say,  and  all  races  on  probation  could  say.  If  w^e  sin 
against  God,  our  punishment  will  come  to  an  end ;  and  after 
that,  there  will  be  an  eternity  in  heaven,  in  comparison  with 
which  our  immense  duration  of  punishment  will  become  as  a 
drop  to  the  sea.  Men,  they  would  say,  escaped  at  last,  and 
are  now  universally  and  forever  happy  in  heaven  ;  and  so 
world  after  world  might  become  rebellious,  and  their  histories 
be  like  those  of  earth.  We  think  it  reasonable  to  say.  Far 
better  that  the  comparatively  few  from  earth  should  bear  tho 
consequences  of  their  sin  forever,  than  that,  by  an  insufficient 
1  2  Thess.  i.  7-10. 


196  THE    REASONABLENESS    OP 

punishment  of  sin,  disaster  should  come  upon  realms  we  know 
not  how  man  J  and  great.  I  say  this  to  meet  the  objection 
that  the  everlasting  punishment  of  any,  whether  comparatively 
a  few,  or  even  of  many,  is  to  be  a  blot  on  the  government  of 
God.  For  the  whole  question  may  resolve  itself  into  this  :  Is 
it  best  that  God  should  have  a  moral  government  ?  If  that 
involves  the  possibility  of  sin,  some  would  say,  No;  others 
would  say.  Yes,  provided  the  sinners  might  be  as  free  in  their 
sin  as  the  righteous  are  in  their  righteousness  ;  then,  for  the 
sake  of  the  inconceivable  bliss  in  a  universe  of  intelligent 
creatures,  let  there  be  this  government,  by  motives,  and  let 
*  the  righteousness  of  the  righteous  be  upon  him,  and  the  wick- 
edness of  the  wicked  be  upon  him.'  Angels,  it  appears,  were 
placed  on  probation  in  heaven,  and  under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances  ;  man  was  placed  in  probation  in  paradise,  with 
slight  inducement  to  sin ;  man  had  a  Redeemer  in  the  person 
of  his  Creator ;  angels  may  have  had  an  equivalent  motive  to 
obedience  in  the  immediate  presence  of  their  Creator,  and  in 
full  knowledge  of  what  a  forfeiture  they  would  incur  by  sin. 
Angels  sinned,  notwithstanding  all  that  Heaven  had  done  to 
keep  them  upright ;  men  perish,  notwithstanding  the  redemp- 
tion made  by  their  God  and  Saviour.  The  illustrations  which 
their  eternal  punishment  will  afford  of  the  nature  of  sin,  of 
the  love  of  God,  of  divine  justice,  of  free  agency,  of  holiness 
and  its  infinite  rewards,  we  say  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  be- 
lieve, will  outweigh  the  personal  sufferings  of  those  who  volun- 
tarily sin  and  perish.  "We  say,  voluntarily  perish;  for  God 
will  give  to  each  one  according  to  his  deeds.  Though  there 
were  an  inconceivable  multitude  who  should  perish,  yet  in  the 
immense  variety  of  their  individual  cases,  discriminating 
justice  will  be  weighed  out  to  them  with  a  care  and  exactness 
unapproached  by  the  exquisite  balances  in  the  mint,  or  with 
the  apotliecary.     Could  holy  beings  get  the  impression  thai 


FUTURE,    ENDLESS     1>UNISHMENT.         197 

there  is  one  soul  from  Christian,  pagan,  or  heathen  lands,  with 
whom  its  Maker  had  dealt  harshly,  or  laid  upon  him  one 
stripe  more  than  was  his  due,  there  would  be  sudden  silence 
among  Ihem;  they  would  look  one  upon  another;  and  the 
seraphim  who,  in  their  worship,  spread  more  of  their  six  wings 
to  cover  themselves  with  than  to  fly,  would  spread  them  all  to 
fly,  —  whither  they  might  not  say,  but  only  where  they  might 
no  longer  be  constrained  to  cry.  Holy,  holy,  holy,  is  the  Lord 
God  of  Hosts !  No  such  occasion  ever  will  be  given  for  such 
loss  of  confidence;  but  they  will  say,  "Alleluia!  salvation, 
and  glory,  and  honor,  and  power  unto  the  Lord  our  God ;  for 
true  and  righteous  are  his  judgments."  ^ 

As  those  who  desire  to  be  of  good  repute  with  you  as  men 
of  understanding,  and  of  humane,  generous  sentiments  and 
feelings,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  the  "  reasonableness 
of  future,  endless  punishment"  is  as  plain  to  us  as  its  scrip- 
tural proofs. 

If,  when  we  read  that  it  would  have  been  good  for  Judas 
Iscariot  that  he  had  never  been  born,  and  therefore  that  there 
is  no  eternity  of  happiness  for  him,  to  follow  any  vast  period 
of  expiatory  suffering,  —  if  we  are  expressly  told  that  blas- 
phemy against  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  never  forgiveness,  neither 
in  this  world  nor  in  that  which  is  to  come,  —  if  it  be  true  that 
Satan  and  his  angels  are  reserved  in  chains  under  darkness 
unto  the  judgment  of  the  great  day,  and  if  then  a  part  of 
our  race  are  to  be  consigned  to  the  same  abode  with  them  for 
retribution,  —  whose  eternity  is  expressed  by  the  selfsame 
word  which  is  employed  to  designate  the  duration  of  happiness 
for  the  righteous ;  and  for  these  and  other  equally  powerful 
representations  of  the  Bible,  we  have  unwavering  faith  in  the 
doctrine  as  a  revealed  truth ;  the   confidence  with  which  we 

1  Rey.  xix.  1. 

17* 


198  THE     REASONABLENESS    OP 

believe  it  may  be  judged  of  when  we  say,  that  it  commends 
itself  to  our  reason  as  truly  as  it  does  to  our  faith.  How  it 
commends  itself  to  our  faith,  may  be  learned  by  knowing  that 
the  doctrine  does  not  stand  as  an  isolated  thing  in  our  behef. 
The  laws  of  comparative  anatomy,  so  to  speak,  may  be  applied 
to  it,  and  we  say,  If  certain  things  are  true,  which  in  our 
earliest  discoveries  of  practical  truth  we  are  confident  are 
essential  to  salvation,  then  this  doctrine  is  as  really  required, 
as  immense  vertebrae  of  an  unknown  animal  require  that  the 
undiscovered  ribs  should  also  be  immense.  An  astronomer 
notices  the  slower  or  quicker  rate  of  motion  in  a  planet  at 
one  part  of  its  orbit,  and  he  tells  you  that  there  must  be  a 
world  beyond  it,  not  yet  seen  ;  he  tells  you  its  size,  its  gravity, 
its  orbit,  its  rate  of  motion ;  and  when  at  last  Neptune  is  dis- 
covered, it  proves  to  be  precisely  that  which  Uranus  dictated 
by  his  perturbations.  So  that  the  doctrine  of  endless  retribu- 
tion is  not,  with  us,  a  mere  dogma ;  it  belongs  to  a  great 
scheme  of  revealed  truth  which  we  call  the  "  plan  of  redemp- 
tion," all  of  which  stands  or  falls  together. 

The  key  to  this  great  scheme  —  "which,"  we  are  warranted 
to  say, "  in  other  ages  was  not  made  known  unto  the  sons  of 
men  as  it  is  now  revealed  unto  the  holy  apostles  and  prophets  " 
—  is  the  Supreme  Deity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Believe 
that,  and  logically  you  are  led  to  receive  the  whole.  Reject 
that,  and  you  cannot  consistently  believe  the  doctrine  now 
under  discussion. 

••  '  What  think  ye  of  Christ  ? '  is  the  test 
To  try  both  your  state  and  your  scheme." 

The  Creator,  the  Second  Person  in  the  Godhead,  takes  our 
nature ;  that  mysterious,  complex  Being  goes  to  the  cross,  and 
dies.     Then  the  atonement  follows,  as  a  matter  of  course ; 


FUTURE,  ENDLESS  PUNISHMENT.    199 

and  if  an  atonement  is  made  for  sin,  then  the  wages  of  sin  is 
deatli.  If  man  can  atone  for  sin  by  ages  of  suffering,  and 
then  reach  heaven,  it  is  unreasonable,  we  say,  to  believe  that 
this  stupendous  sacrifice  would  have  been  made.  So  that 
Christ  is  "  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God  unto 
SfJvation."  There  are  words  of  mighty  import  in  that  pas- 
sage :  "  Who  hath  made  him  to  he  sin  for  us  who  knew  no  sin. 
that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him."  ^ 

"  The  wages  of  sin  is  death."  Some  say,  The  wages 
of  sin  is  conscience ;  some,  The  wages  of  sin  is  discipline ; 
some,  The  wages  of  sin  is  imprisonment  for  a  great,  indefinite 
period,  for  the  purpose  of  punishment  and  restoration.  Let 
us  adhere  to  the  Bible :  "  The  wages  of  sin  is  death."  If  you 
call  it  figurative,  the  laws  of  rhetoric  teach  us  that  a  meaning 
totally  opposite  to  the  nature  of  a  figure  cannot  be  true.  The 
ruling  idea  conveyed  by  the  word  death  is  termination.  If 
you  search  the  Bible  for  instances  in  which  death  means  a 
limited  infliction,  and  so  reduce  one  side  of  the  equation  in  the 
passage  from  which  the  text  is  taken,  you  must  by  necessity 
reduce  the  other  side ;  and  thus,  so  much  as  you  diminish 
death,  you  must  diminish  life;  for  if  death  be  not  death, 
neither  is  life  eternal  life. 

jS^otice  also  the  two  contrasted  words  in  the  verse  from 
which  the  text  is  taken :  "  The  wages  of  sin  is  death ;  but  the 
gift  of  God  is  eternal  life,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 
Death  for  sin  is  "wages"  —  something  earned  or  merited. 
Eternal  life  is  not  "wages"  to  us;  it  is  to  angels.  The  law 
is  the  angels'  gospel.  They  stand  by  obedience.  But  to  us 
eternal  life,  if  we  have  it,  is  without  works  —  a  gift,  un- 
merited, free.  Having  forfeited  heaven  by  sin,  God  stands 
ready  to  give  it  to  us  on  certain  terms,  the  terms  and  method 
themselves  being  no  less  wonderful  than  the  gift. 
1  2  Cor.  V.  21. 


200  THE     REASONABLENESS     OP 

Need  I  remind  you  that  this  is  a  subject  which,  for  each  of 
us,  is  of  unparalleled  interest  ?  Each  of  us  may,  without  pre- 
sumption, say  with  his  Maker,  "  I  live  forever."  If  God  says, 
"  Of  my  years  there  is  no  end,"  the  words  may  be  responded 
to  by  us :  Of  my  years  there  is  no  end.  But  each  of  us  is 
also  a  sinner,  ruined  and  lost.  We  believe  that  sin  can  be 
forgiven  only  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  who,  by  his  sufiPerings 
and  death,  is  a  substitute  for  the  sinner,  and  constitutes  for 
him  a  righteousness  which  takes  away  his  condemnation,  anc 
prepares  for  his  sanctification  and  salvation.  We  are  told 
that  there  is  salvation  in  no  other  way,  and,  moreover,  that 
unbelief  of  it,  where  there  has  been  sufficient  opportunity  to 
understand  it,  proceeds  from  a  wrong  state  of  feeling,  and 
is  therefore  morally  wrong,  and  that  such  unbelief  is  declared 
by  Christ  and  his  apostles  to  be  the  greatest  of  all  pardonable 
sins.  Christ  says,  "  He  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see 
life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him."  Do  we  who  preach 
tell  the  people  this  ?  Surely  it  is  not  possible  for  the  Son  of 
God  to  suflfer  and  die  in  our  stead,  and  we  be  innocent  if  we 
do  not  believe  in  him ;  but  we  shall  add  to  the  guilt  of  sin  the 
heavier  guilt  of  rejecting  the  offered*  remedy,  procured  at  such 
infinite  expense.  The  sight  of  Christ  will  close  our  lips  if  we 
are  not  saved.  He  portrayed  the  scenes  of  the  last  judgment; 
the  separation,  the  welcome  of  the  righteous,  and  the  sinner's 
doom.  And  having  done  this,  he  went  to  "  a  place  which  is 
called  Calvary,"  and  died  to  save  us  from  the  condemnation 
which  he  had  so  faithfully  and  affectingly  portrayed.  If  we 
fail  to  believe  in  him,  and  he  therefore  fails  to  redeem  us 
from  our  sin,  we  must  experience  the  truth  of  our  text. 
And  when  the  judgment  is  passed  by,  and  the  wicked  have 
gone  to  their  own  place,  and  angels  stand  in  silence,  weeping, 
and  thinking  of  their  end,  methinks  I  hear  one  of  them  break 
the  silence  and  say,  After  the  Sa^  iour  had  suffered  for  them, 


FUTURE,  ENDLESS  PUNISHMENT.    201 

it  is  an  infinite  pity  that  they  should  perish.  And  may  many 
(may  it  be  all !)  of  you,  who  now  are  imbelievers,  but  then 
redeemed  sinners,  continue  the  strain  and  say,  "  For  God  so 
loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  who- 
soever believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlast- 
ing life."  Salvation  !  Salvation  !  Every  one  of  us  can  be 
saved.  "  For  God  hath  not  appointed  us  to  wrath,  but  to 
obtain  salvation  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  died  for  us, 
that  whether  we  wake  or  sleep  we  should  live  together  with 
him."  O  Saviour  !  how  sweet  thy  name  !  how  precious  thy 
dying  love,  in  connection  with  this  theme  !  Thou  art  our  sun, 
pouring  celestial  beauty  on  those  clouds  which  are  round 
about  God,  and  painting  on  this  darkness  and  tempest  at 
which  we  have  gazed,  a  rainbow  in  sight  like  unto  an  emer- 
ald.    May  we  all  cast  our  crowns  at  thy  feet,  saying,  "  Unto 

HIM  THAT  LOVED  US,  AND  WASHED  US  FROM  OUR  SINS  IN 
HIS    OWN    BLOOD,  AND    HATH    MADE    US    KINGS  AND    PRIESTS 

UNTO  God  and  his  Father;  to  him  be  glory  and 

DOMINION  rOREVER  AND  EVEB.   AmEN." 


VI 


GOD   IS   LOVE 


Whatever  may  be  the  component  parts  and  qualities  of 
the  sun,  its  prominent  characteristics  are  light  and  heat,  and 
all  its  parts  and  qualities  combine  to  produce  them. 

So  every  thing  in  God  conspires  to  one  thing.  That  which 
presides  over  all  his  actions,  and  rules  in  all  his  feelings,  and 
pervades  his  whole  nature,  so  as  to  give  its  character,  in  the 
view  of  intelligent  beings,  to  all  which  he  is,  and  to  all  which 
he  does,  is  Love. 

It  might  have  been  something  else;  for  example.  Justice. 
Whatever  we  heard,  or  saw,  or  felt,  of  the  Most  High,  might 
have  produced  this  chief  impression  upon  us,  —  that  God  is 
Just.  Or  it  might  have  been  Power,  illustrated  in  the  works 
of  nature,  and  in  his  dealings  with  his  creatures.  Or  it  might 
have  been,  in  a  word.  Holiness,  —  every  thing  conspiring  to 
produce,  with  an  overwhelming  impression,  the  feeling  that 
God  is  Holy.  All  these  attributes  are  essential  to  our  rever- 
ence and  love  for  God  ;  but  these,  singly  or  altogether,  are 
not  so  preeminently  his  characteristic,  that  it  can  be  said  with 
truth,  God  is  Justice,  God  is  Power,  God  is  Hohness. 

No  one  has  failed  to  think  what  an  infinitely  solemn  thing 
it  is  that  we  live  under  the  absolute  disposal  of  one  Being 
who  made  us,  ordains  our  lot,  and  is  able  to  do  with  us  that 

(203) 


204  GOD     IS     LOYE. 

which  seems  good  in  his  sight.  The  question  will  arise,  What 
security  have  I  for  my  welfare  ?  Annihilation  is  impossible. 
There  are  elements  around  me  which  I  cannot  control.  The 
wind  can  destroy  me ;  the  chemical  combinations  in  the  atmos- 
phere can  take  away  my  health,  my  life  ;  lightnings  may  con- 
sume me  ;  the  earth  can  swallow  me  up.  My  disembodied 
spirit  being  still  susceptible  of  pleasure  and  pain,  what  pro- 
tection have  I  in  a  future  state  ?  how  do  I  know  that  existence, 
on  the  whole,  will  be  a  blessing,  and  not  a  curse  ?  The 
mind  longs  for  a  feeling  of  certainty  that  benevolence  is  and 
will  be  the  law  of  our  being.  God  is  almighty ;  no  one  can 
go  from  his  presence ;  how  may  I  know  that  his  power  will 
not  be  employed  to  make  me  unhappy  forever,  let  my  charac- 
ter be  what  it  may  ? 

The  answer  to  such  thoughts  and  questionings  is  found  in 
the  incontrovertible  truth,  that  the  perfections  of  God  are 
ruled  by  Love. 

But  how  does  it  appear  that  love  guides  in  the  divine 
administration ;  that,  to  a  competent  spectator,  who  could  see 
the  whole  scheme  of  the  divine  government,  it  would  appear 
that  the  motive,  the  feeling,  and  the  end  aimed  at,  is  Love  ? 

If  we  can  establish  the  following  proposition,  which  it  will 
be  a  principal  object  of  these  pages  to  do,  this  question  will  be 
settled  in  every  mind.     The  proposition  is  this  : 

It  is  essential  to  the  success  of  the  divine  gov- 
ernment  OVER   free   and  accountable   beings,    that 

LOVE    should    rule    IN    THE    DIVINE    PERFECTIONS. 

It  would  plainly  be  impossible  for  this  world  to  exist,  as 
things  are  now  constituted,  if  love  did  not  pervade  the  per- 
fections of  God,  and  rule  in  them.  If  this  is  made  clear,  we 
shall  have  no  difficulty  in  applying  the  truth  wherever  there 
are  intelligent  subjects  of  the  divine  government. 


GOD     IS     LOVE.  205 

If  love  were  not  the  motive  and  end  of  the  divine  Being,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  suppose  that  some  other  quahty  would 
be  ;  for  in  the  nature  of  things,  every  moral  being  has  some 
ruling  motive  or  governing  purpose.  We  have  only  to  sup- 
pose that  the  governing  purpose  or  feeling  in  God  were 
something  different  from  love,  his  object  being  not  to  manifest 
love  as  his  chief  end,  but  to  do  something  else ;  for  example, 
to  show  his  power.  This,  therefore,  is  the  testimony,  we 
will  suppose,  which  is  borne  by  the  heavens,  earth,  and  seas  — 
that  God  is  power.  All  these  things,  indeed,  now  testify  that 
God  is  powerful ;  but  suppose  that,  in  the  same  sense  in  which 
it  is  now  said  that  God  is  love,  it  should  be  said,  with  equal 
truth,  God  is  power? 

To  begin  with  the  seas  :  What  would  be  seen  there  ?  Now, 
benevolence  reigns  for  the  most  part  over  the  great  deep. 
A  thousand  fold  more  ships  pass  safely  over  it  than  are  sunk 
in  it;  innumerably  more  lives  are  preserved  than  destroyed 
there.  Men  go  to  sea  with  the  confidence  that  there  will  be 
favorable  winds  to  bear  them  to  any  and  every  part  of  the 
globe ;  and  every  day  or  week  vessels  arrive  in  the  different 
ports  from  northern  climes  and  southern,  from  the  east  and 
west.  This  is  benevolence  ;  there  is  power  in  it ;  but  chiefly 
it  illustrates  the  goodness  of  God. 

But  take  away  benevolence,  consulting  the  happiness  of 
man,  from  its  rule  in  the  divine  purposes,  and  let  power 
ascend  and  govern  to  the  exclusion  of  benevolence  as  the 
great  end.  Then  the  object  would  be  to  make  the  four  winds 
show  their  strength  ;  the  height  of  weaves,  the  fury  of  tem- 
pests, the  roar  of  ocean,  the  apparent  mingling  of  sea  and 
sky,  would  proclaim,  God  is  power.  From  the  fierce  Baltic 
to  the  typhoons  of  the  Indian  Seas,  this  voice  would  go  forth, 
—  God  is  power.     Few,  if  any,  sails  would  tempt  the  winds  of 

18 


206  ODD     IS     LOYE. 

heaven  ;  a  keel  would  seldom  venture  among  tlie  waves  whose 
chief  office  should  be  to  show  that  God  is  power,  each  billow 
then,  like  a  wandering  green  mound,  denoting  that  some 
human  form  was  intombed  there.  Commerce  would  cease ; 
parts  of  the  earth  would  bid  each  other  farewell ;  for  God  is 
power. 

How  would  it  be  on  land  ?  Gigantic  forms  of  rocks  would 
overhang  the  dwellings  of  men,  which  could  then  be  only  in 
valleys,  where  the  chief  locomotive  power  visible  would  be  the 
wings  of  eagles,  mocking  the  weakness  of  imprisoned  man. 
The  rain  would  descend  to  show  its  force,  not  to  bless  the 
earth  ;  the  rivers  would  be  swift  with  currents  defying  human 
strength  and  skill ;  the  springs  and  fountains  which  now,  like 
a  child's  hymn,  murmur,  "  God  is  good,"  would  rise  into  tor- 
rents, and  cry,  God  is  power.  Vegetation  would  be  excessive, 
and  men  would  be  cumbered  under  the  prodigality  of  the 
earth.  Nothing  would  exist  as  now  merely  to  give  pleasure. 
The  greenness  which  refreshes  the  eye  would  assume  a  daz- 
zling brilliancy,  to  impress  the  mind  with  a  sense  of  power ; 
the  hues  and  fragrance  of  flowers  would  be  useless ;  every 
where  strength  would  supplant  beauty  ;  majesty  would  tread 
upon  the  meek  and  quiet  forms  of  nature;  and  the  awful 
power  of  God  would  compel  the  fear  and  adoration  which 
now,  involuntarily,  arise  with  mingled  love  and  praise,  at  the 
sight  of  the  touching  evidence  of  his  goodness.  As  for  the 
heavens,  day  unto  day  would,  indeed,  utter  speech  of  him,  and 
night  unto  night  would  show  forth  knowledge,  but  not  as 
now,  (in  the  elliptical  but  expressive  language  of  the  ori- 
ginal,) — "  no  speech  ;  no  language ;  their  voice  is  not 
heard  ;  "  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  air  would  be  full  of  varied 
and  awful  grandeur  both  in  sights  and  sounds  ;  and  signs  in 
the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  would  make  the  nations  pale  ;  the 
gratefiil  vicissitudes  of  seasons  would  be  exchanged  for  demon- 


GOD     IS     LOVE.  207 

strations  of  omnipotence  ;  the  only  impression  on  the  minds 
of  men  would  be  that  which  is  made  by  the  forlorn  Moslem 
cry  through  all  Mahometan  deserts,  and  seas,  and  cities, 
"  God  is  great." 

But  let  us  suppose  that  the  justice  of  God  should  make  the 
predominant  impression  upon  our  minds.  Then,  the  world 
would  be  a  palace  of  justice ;  every  place  of  assembly  and 
every  dwelling  would  be  like  a  court  room ;  every  where  we 
should  see  the  signs  and  ministrations  of  law.  Then  every 
transgression  and  disobedience  would  meet  with  a  just  recom- 
pense of  reward.  The  common  spectacle  in  the  streets 
would  be  people  meeting  with  their  deserved  fate,  ven- 
geance seizing  on  the  wicked  and  mixing  for  them  her  cup  of 
trembling  in  exact  proportion  to  their  crimes.  In  the  midst 
of  festivity  and  domestic  peace,  the  sentence  of  death  would 
be  uttered  by  ministers  of  justice,  refusing  respite  or  reprieve; 
the  great  end  of  God's  administration  of  the  world  would  be 
to  do  justice,  and  to  impress  a  sense  of  his  justice  upon  men; 
the  terrors  of  law  and  of  violated  obligation  would  take  the 
place  of  clemency,  and  the  providence  of  God,  which  now 
makes  the  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sends 
rain  on  the  just  and  the  unjust,  would  be  armed  on  every  side 
with  admonitions  of  guilt,  and  of  approaching  or  instant 
retribution.  Then  the  softening  influences  of  contrition  and 
repentance  would  be  exchanged  for  fear  and  despair.  True, 
goodness  would  meet  with  its  just  reward ;  every  righteous 
act  would  be  duly  paid  for,  every  kind  deed  be  recompensed 
at  once ;  but,  in  that  case,  virtue  would  lose  the  powerful 
excitements  which  disappointment  and  injury  afford;  faith, 
with  its  precious  influence  on  the  mind  and  heart,  would  dis- 
appear ;  probation,  that  means  of  spiritual  benefit,  the  divine 
method  of  educating  us  for  a  nobler  state  of  existence,  would 
become   impossible ;    for   pure    justice    would    dispense    her 


208  GOD     IS     LOVE. 

rewards  immediately,  without  forbearance  towards  the  wicked, 
or  benevolent  delay  for  the  sake  of  strengthening,  and  so  in 
the  highest  measure  rewarding,  the  good.  It  is  evident,  there- 
fore, that  justice,  on  which,  nevertheless,  the  safety  of  the 
universe  depends,  could  not  properly  be  the  governing  purpose 
in  the  divine  mind  and  administration. 

But  can  the  same  objections  be  made  to  holiness,  as  the 
predominant  manifestation  in  the  divine  character  ?  Yes ; 
even  now,  while  the  goodness  of  God  attempers  the  insuffer- 
able rays  of  his  holiness  to  the  eyes  of  angels  and  men,  the 
powerful  impressions  of  it  are  more  than  they  can  bear. 
Angels  veil  their  faces  while  they  worship.  In  the  temple, 
the  cherubim  had  more  wings  with  which  to  cover  themselves 
than  to  fly,  while  they  cried  one  to  another,  Holy,  holy,  holy, 
is  the  Lord  God  of  Hosts.  At  which  voice,  and  under  a 
sense  of  the  holiness  of  God,  Isaiah  cried,  "  Woe  is  me,  for 
I  am  undone,  because  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  and  I 
dwell  in  the  midst  of  a  people  of  unclean  lips,  for  mine  eyes 
have  seen  the  King,  the  Lord  of  Hosts."  If  the  holiness  of 
God  should  universally  make  the  first  predominating  impres- 
sion upon  the  minds  of  his  creatures  whenever  they  approach 
him,  or  think  of  him,  and  this  impression  should  be  such  that 
no  sense  of  his  infinite  benevolence  mingling  with  it  could 
mitigate  or  qualify  it,  the  fear  which  is  cast  out  by  love  would 
occupy  every  mind ;  the  holiness  of  God  would  dazzle  the 
sight  beyond  endurance  ;  worship  would  consist  only  in  dis- 
tant prostration,  nor  would  any  creature,  even  the  archangel, 
venture  to  say,  "  Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God." 
A  sense  of  his  excellency  would  make  them  always  afraid. 
Job  said,  "  Only  do  not  two  things  unto  me ;  then  will  I  not 
hide  myself  from  thee  ;  withdraw  thine  hand  from  me,  and 
let  not  thy  dread  make  me  afraid.  Then  call  thou,  and  I  will 
answer ;  or  let  me  speak,  and  answer  thou  me." 


GOD     IS     LOVE.  209 

But  now  Hve  see  a  pleasing  contrast  to  such  representations 
of  the  divine  character.  The  methods  by  which  God  manifests 
himself  to  us  so  as  to  produce  the  greatest  and  best  effect 
upon  our  moral  sense,  and  thereby  to  give  us  the  most  exalted 
views  of  his  greatness,  are  illustrated,  for  exami)le,  in  the 
causes  by  which  light  is  ordained  to  give  us  comfort  and 
])leasure.  Power  and  wisdom  are  employed  in  doing  it,  and 
yet  benevolence  is  more  conspicuous  in  it  than  they.  The 
different  colors  of  things  are  owing  to  certain  qualities  in  the 
things  themselves,  a  leaf  being  constructed  so  as  to  reflect 
green  rays,  the  atmosphere  a  soft  blue  ;  that  which  we  call 
the  color  of  an  object  being  the  result  of  its  construction  by 
the  hand  of  God,  who  makes *the  leaves  in  the  woods  such  that 
when  they  decay  they  gratify  us  with  the  variety  of  their 
colors.  Here  the  power  of  God  puts  forth  benevolence  as  its 
illustration.  It  would  not  have  been  as  great  a  proof  of 
power  so  to  have  made  every  thing  in  the  air,  earth,  and  sea, 
that  it  should  absorb  all  the  colors ;  then  nothing  would  be 
seen  but  that  which  was  white,  and  the  sun,  with  his  full 
splendors  reflected  from  every  point,  would,  with  our  present 
eyesight,  have  been  our  sore  tormentor.  Or  creation,  by  some 
similar  process,  might  have  been  shrouded  in  black,  and 
"  Night,  from  her  ebon  throne,"  would  have  stretched  her 
sceptre  into  the  day.  While  God  has  chosen  to  gratify  our 
sense  by  a  benevolent  arrangement  which  makes  difl'erent 
objects,  and  the  same  objects  at  different  times,  shed  different 
rays  upon  us,  his  power  is  more  signally  illustrated  through 
his  benevolence  than  it  could  have  been  by  overwhelinhig 
impressions  of  his  omnipotent  force. 

If,  therefore,  it  appears  probable  that  the  present  state  of 

things,  and   the  happiness  of  intelligent  beings   every  where, 

could  not  exist  unless  benevolence  took  the  lead  in  the  mani- 

festations  of  the  divine  character,   we   may  argue,   from   the 

18* 


210  GOD     IS     LOVE. 

necessity  of  the  case,  that  if  there  be  a  God,  love  must  per- 
vade his  perfections  and  rule  in  his  acts.  This  is  true  in  those 
states  of  society  where  the  true  God  has  not  been  and  is  not 
recognized.  ''  Nevertheless,  he  left  not  himself  without  wit- 
ness, in  that  he  did  good,  and  gave  us  rain  from  heaven,  and 
fruitful  seasons,  filling  our  hearts  with  food  and  gladness." 
The  heathen  and  pagan  world  could  not  exist,  except  as  the 
benevolence  of  God  countervailed  its  constant  tendency  to 
self-destruction.  "  His  tender  mercies  are  over  all  his  works." 
"  The  earth  is  full  of  the  goodness  of  the  Lord."  "  So  is  this 
great  and  wide  sea."  Intelligent  men  concur  in  the  acknowl- 
edgment that  the  attributes  of  God  are  guided  by  benevolence, 
and  that  there  is  an  evident  design  in  the  constitution  of  things 
to  make  this  concihating  impression  upon  the  minds  of  men, 
that  God  is  good. 

Now  there  is  one  principal  objection  which  is  urged  against 
this  view  of  the  divine  character.  It  is  drawn  from  the  moral 
condition  of  our  race.  Our  fallen  nature,  our  entrance  into  the 
w^orld  with  a  moral  constitution  predisposed  to  evil,  is  held  to 
be  a  sufficient  refutation  of  all  proofs  of  God's  goodness  drawn 
from  the  works  of  nature.  They  are  inanimate  ;  they  pro- 
mote, it  is  said,  the  temporary  comfort  of  man  as  a  necessary 
means  of  sustaining  life  ;  but  here  are  moral  beings  in  a 
world  blasted  by  sin,  they  themselves  possessing  a  sinful 
nature  ;  —  is  not  such  a  nature  a  reproach  to  the  character  of 
the  Being  who  presides  over  it  ?  Does  it  not  conflict  with  the 
doctrine  now  maintained,  that  God  is  love  ? 

The  answer  may,  without  hesitation,  be.  No ;  and  the  proof 
is  abundant  and  clear. 

But  let  it  be  plainly  understood  what  it  is  which  we  now 
attempt  to  show.  Not  one  word  is  here  to  be  said  on  that 
perplexing  subject,  the  existence  of  sin.     But,  assuming  that 


GOD     IS     LOVE.  211 

the  Creator  proposes  to  make  free,  accountable  creatures  to 
inhabit  this  work],  —  it  will  now  be  attempted  to  show,  that 
we  could  not  have  been  more  favorably  placed  under  any 
other  system  which  they  who  impugn  the  present  constitution 
of  things  have  ever  proposed. 

May  we  not  all  agree  upon  this  question.  Whether  it  is  best 
that  God  shall  make  a  universe  of  intelligent  creatures,  who 
shall  be  entirely  free  in  their  choice  to  love  and  serve  God  or 
not  ?  There  shall  be  no  compulsion,  no  predisposition  to  sin  ; 
on  the  contrary,  rich  experience  of  the  character  of  God,  and 
of  what  it  is  to  love  and  serve  him,  shall  be  afforded ;  and 
then  his  subjects  shall  decide  whether  to  obey  or  to  sin.  Is  it 
best  that  God  shall  create  such  a  universe  ?  Considering 
who  he  is,  and  taking  into  view  the  infinite  blessedness  of 
those  whom  he  shall  love,  and  on  whom  he  will  forever  bestow 
all  that  he  can  give,  as  far  as  they  are  capable  of  receiving  it, 
we  should  all,  probably,  &ay.  It  is  infinitely  desirable  that 
creation  should  be  peopled  as  widely  as  possible  with  these 
intelligent,  free  creatures.  The  probabilities,  we  should  say, 
are,  that  such  a  Being,  once  know^n  and  loved,  will  secure  the 
obedience  of  his  subjects,  and,  if  so,  the  happiness  of  which 
they  will  be  capable,  no  finite  mind  can  conceive.  It  is  worthy 
of  a  benevolent  God,  we  should  say,  to  bring  such  an  intelli- 
gent universe  into  being. 

They  come  into  existence.  Some  of  them  dwell  in  the 
immediate  presence  of  God.  But  there,  even  there,  it  appears 
that  some  of  them,  in  the  exercise  of  their  perfectly  free 
choice,  keep  not  their  first  estate,  but  leave  their  own  habita- 
tion, and,  in  so  doing,  forsake  their  allegiance  to  God.  They 
must  have  had,  in  heaven,  every  possible  inducement  to  love 
and  serve  God  ;  but  for  some  fancied  good  which  they  did 
not  possess,  they  renounced  their  loyalty,  they  became  rebels. 


212  GOD     IS     LOVE. 

"We  say  nothing  about  their  punishment ;  we  only  ask,  Have 
we  seen  any  thing  up  to  this  point  to  impugn  the  goodness  of 
God  ?  They  have  become  sinners,  in  the  exercise  of  that 
freedom  with  which  they  were  endowed  instead  of  being  con 
stituted  an  intellectual  orrery,  made  to  revolve,  by  force,  around 
a  central  object,  whether  they  would  or  no.  God  was  good  in 
making  them,  and  in  making  them  free  ;  in  all  this  God  is 
love.  Has  their  transgression  cast  any  reflection  upon  his 
character?  It  may  be  said.  He  could  have  prevented  them  from 
sinning ;  why  leave  them  at  such  peril  ?  Would  a  parent 
suffer  his  child  to  expose  himself  thus  to  ruin,  if  the  parent 
could,  by  any  influence,  prevent  it  ?  The  reply  is.  Parents 
govern  their  children,  when  they  are  at  years  of  understand- 
ing, by  surrounding  them  with  powerful  moral  restraints  and 
persuasive  influences ;  but  there  is  a  certain  province  in  the 
child's  free  agency  which  they  do  not  invade.  Even  in  the 
case  of  the  redeemed,  whose  perpetual  uprightness  the  Bible 
teaches  us  to  believe  will  be  made  sure,  we  cannot  suppose  that 
any  thing  will  be  done  which  will  in  the  least  intrude  upon  the 
consciousness  of  perfect  liberty,  or  suggest  the  thought  or  feeling 
of  restricted  freedom.  Whether  it  be  just  and  wise  to  allow 
every  race  of  beings  to  be  placed  on  probation  at  first,  is  a  ques- 
tion which  we  have  not  light  enough  to  discuss  at  much  length  ; 
we  can  only  say,  that  there  seems  to  be  no  want  of  benevolence 
in  trying  their  choice,  under  a  full  and  explicit  disclosure  of  the 
consequences  which  will  ensue  upon  obedience  or  disobedience. 
No  one  can  properly  say  that  a  fair  and  full  statement  of  a 
proposal,  with  all  that  will  follow  its  acceptance  or  rejection, 
does  not  acquit  him  who  makes  the  proposal  from  all  blame  if 
the  choice  inclines  to  the  wrono-  side.  The  bias  beino:  as 
strong  towards  good  as  towards  evil,  and  not  only  so,  but  being 
fortified  by  experience  in  the  happy  consequences  of  upright- 
ness, benevolence  is  not  impeachable,  if,  in  pursuit  of  some 


GOD     IS     LOVE.  213 

imagined  advantage,  we  forsake  our  first  estate,  with  all  its 
obligations,  and  seek  a  selfish  end.  Such,  so  far  as  we  can 
learn,  was  the  case  witli  angels,  and  we  cannot  find  just  cause 
of  exception  in  it  against  the  benevolence  of  God,  unless  we 
take  the  ground  that,  rather  than  expose  immortal  creatures 
to  the  liability  of  losing  their  happiness  forever,  even  by  the 
exercise  of  their  own  intelligent  and  deliberate  choice,  it 
would  be  better  that  God  should  have  no  creatures  but  flying 
fowl,  and  beasts  of  the  earth,  and  fishes,  who  cannot  possibly, 
by  choosing  wrong,  involve  themselves  in  such  a  calamity  as 
sin.  Let  the  universe  be  an  infinite  firmament  for  suns  and 
planets,  and  let  the  only  forms  of  intelligence  be  mechanical 
revolutions,  in  sublime  cycles,  by  unnumbered  worlds,  which 
shall  be  dumb,  except  as  their  spheres  make  m.usic,  or  the 
irrational  creatures  which  inhabit  them  utter  their  voices  ; 
and  let  their  wonderful  forms  of  chemistry  and  mineralogy  illus- 
trate the  wisdom  of  the  Creator  ;  but  let  there  be  no  intelligent 
creature  to  behold  them,  and  to  love  and  praise  God ;  let 
almighty  goodness  bring  every  thing  else  into  being  except 
an  offspring  in  his  own  image,  lest,  perchance,  some  of  them 
should  choose  to  forsake  him,  in  the  pursuit  of  fancied  good ! 
We  confidently  say  that  this  is  not  benevolence  ;-and  that  it 
is  far  from  being  any  impeachment  of  benevolence  for  God  to 
make  spirits  in  his  own  image,  and  give  them  liberty  to  every 
possible  extent,  with  all  its  liabilities,  and  with  its  privileges 
and  blessings. 

Next,  let  us  pursue  the  illustration  in  the  case  of  our  first 
parents,  without  any  reference  to  their  posterity.  Adam  is 
put  on  probation  as  a  free,  accountable  creature.  God  endows 
him  with  every  form  of  blessing ;  holds  converse  Avith  him  ; 
instructs  him  fully  as  to  his  duty,  and  the  consequences  of  a 
right  or  wrong  choice.  He  puts  his  obedience  to  the  test,  by 
prohibiting  one  tree,  which  was  necessary  neither  to  existence 


214  GOD     IS     LOVE. 

nor  to  happiness,  provided  man  would  prefer  obedience  to  God 
above  every  other  gratification.  In  all  this,  God  is  love.  It 
is  not  a  temptation  to  sin.  On  the  one  hand,  there  are  posi- 
tive experiences  of  blessing  in  uprightness,  and  promises  of 
further  good ;  on  the  other,  a  most  explicit  dissuasion  from 
doing  wrong,  with  a  disclosure  of  the  consequences.  Man,  in 
the  perfectly  free  exercise  of  his  own  will,  eats  the  forbidden 
fruit.  The  temptation  could  not  have  been  reduced  to  lower 
terms,  and  yet  be  a  trial  of  obedience.  We  cannot  discern 
any  thing  thus  far  which  impeaches  the  benevolence  of  God. 

Now  we  come  to  consider  ourselves.  In  consequence  of 
this  apostasy,  all  the  posterity  of  these  first  parents  are  born 
with  a  sinful  nature.  To  this,  objection  is  made.  Let  us  come 
into  existence,  it  is  said,  without  any  bias  to  sin,  and  let  each 
of  us  take  his  chance  for  himself,  to  stand  or  to  fall.  This 
would  be  benevolent.  Then  we  should  agree  that  God  is 
love. 

Now,  without  venturing,  as.  was  said  before,  one  step  into 
the  unfathomable  abyss  of  speculation  on  the  subject  of  moral 
evil,  let  us  simply  consider  whether,  in  view  of  universally 
acknowledged  premises,  we  are  warranted  in  saying,  that  a 
contrary  method  with  regard  to  our  moral  probation  w^ould  be 
any  more  benevolent  than  that  which  God  has  adopted  with 
regard  to  man.  Let  us  see,  on  the  contrary,  whether  the 
present  system  be  not  manifestly  benevolent,  without  presum- 
ing to  speculate  as  to  its  being  the  only  method  which  could 
possibly  have  been  adopted.  It  will  be  enough  if  we  see  that 
in  the  present  moral  constitution  of  things  with  regard  to  our 
probation,  God  is  love. 

Instead  of  coming  into  existence  as  now,  with  a  fallen  nature 
which  will  inevitably  develop  sinfulness,  and  make  us  liable  to 
its  tearful  consequences,  we  might  each  have  been  born  up- 
right, free  to  choose  for  himself  whether  he  will  stand  or  fall. 


GOD     IS     LOVE.  215 

No  redemption,  however,  is  to  be  provided  for  us  in  case  we 
fall.  As  angels,  and  as  men,  took  upon  themselves  the  great 
responsibility  of  sinning,  with  all  its  possible  consequences,  so 
must  we.  Which  will  we  do?  Assume  this  responsibility, 
each  for  himself,  with  no  way  of  recovery  if  we  fall  ?  or  will 
we  consent  that  a  progenitor  shall  try  the  experiment  for  us, 
our  nature  be  determined  by  the  result,  and  redemption  be 
provided  and  offered  to  us  in  case  that  he  involves  us  with 
himself  in  disobedience  ?  Our  nature  is  the  same  with  that  of 
Adam ;  he  sinned ;  our  will  is  the  same  free  will ;  why  should 
we  think  that  we  should  remain  upright,  if  Adam  fell  ?  The 
least  possible  provocation  to  sin  existed  in  his  case ;  the  love 
of  God  was  set  against  an  untasted  fruit,  his  threatenings 
against  a  tempter's  word  that  it  would  make  him  happy.  A 
stronger  inducement  to  remain  upright,  a  smaller  inducement 
to  depart  from  God,  we  could  not  have.  Now,  will  we  take 
our  chance,  and  put  our  condition  at  stake,  knowing  what  the 
result  of  the  experiment  was  in  the  ca?e  of  our  fellow-creature, 
Adam  ?  It  is  no  want  of  benevolence  in  God  not  to  let  men 
take  that  risk ;  and  this  is  all  which  we  seek  to  prove. 

If  angels  fell,  if  Adam  fell,  for  all  that  appears  to  the  con- 
trary, as  many  of  our  race  would  eventually  have  been  lost  as 
under  any  other  moral  system.  It  is  benevolent  to  let  men 
come  into  existence  with  a  fallen  nature,  and  to  let  this  be 
their  probation  —  Will  you  accept  free  forgiveness  and  pre- 
serving grace  ?  You  who  are  born  in  heathen  lands,^and  have 
the  law  writ^n  in  your  hearts,  your  thoughts  the  meanwhile 
accusing  or  else  excusing  one  another,  your  infants  and  young 
children  being  saved  by  the  exercise  of  a  compensatory  dispen- 
sation toward  them,  and  you  who  know  good  and  evil,  being 
taught  by  the  known  consequences  of  sin  in  your  souls  and 
bodies,  and  by  the  effects  of  doing  right  in  an  inward  self- 
approbation, —  will  you  accept  this  testimony  on  either  side, 


216  GOD     IS     LOVE. 

obey,  and  live  ?  •  And  you  for  whom  revelation  is  added  to 
the  light  of  nature,  you  with  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  in  your 
hands,  will  you  obey  the  gospel,  and  so  be  saved  ?  Motives 
of  infinite  tenderness  plead  with  you  to  this  effect :  "  for  if  yc 
do  these  things  ye  shall  never  fall ; "  but  if  in  a  state  of  origi- 
nal uprightness  you  sin,  you  sin  as  angels  did,  with  no  Re- 
deemer. We  may  safely  assert  that  our  present  condition,  as 
fallen  creatures,  with  a  Redeemer,  is,  to  say  the  least,  and  to 
speak  very  far  within  bounds,  no  less  a  proof  that  God  is  love, 
than  angels  or  Adam  had  in  being  made  to  try  the  question  of 
obedience  or  disobedience  for  themselves,  with  the  conse- 
sequences  annexed.  So  far  as  we  are  informed,  every  race  of 
creatures  is  placed  on  probation. 

If  this  be  so,  and  if  it  would  have  been  indispensable  that 
every  one  of  us  should  have  had  some  trial  on  which  his 
character  and  standing  forever  should  depend,  we  cannot  fail 
to  admit  that  the  question  on  which  we  are  now  tried,  viz., 
whether  we  will  repent  and  accept  a  free  and  full  redemption, 
is  as  favorable  and  as  safe  for  us  as  the  question,  whether  we 
will  remain  upright  and  live,  or  M\  and  be  irretrievably  lost. 
And  therefore  no  injury  is  done  by  making  our  progenitor  try 
the  question  for  us,  and  connect  us  with  himself  in  his  fall,  and 
in  his  recovery  by  the  infinite  mercy  of  God.  Had  we  fallen 
in  Adam  with  no  possibility  of  restoration,  the  question  would 
be  totally  different  from  the  form  in  which  it  now  stands. 
Then  it  ^yould  have  been,  whether  it  is  benevolent  to  involve 
a  race  in  the  doings  of  their  progenitor,  and  give  them  no 
opportunity  to  retrieve  their  state.  No  such  question  is  raised 
by  the  conduct  of  God  towards  us.  Redemption  is  contem- 
poraneous with  our  apostasy;  they  must  be  contemplated 
together ;  it  is  injustice  towards  God  to  separate  them.  There- 
fore, all  the  invectives  against  the  present  moral  constitution  of 
things  as  unjust  and  cruel,  are  themselves  unfair,  because  they 


GOD     IS     LOVE.  21T 

leave  out  of  view  one  half  of  the  truth ;  for  tl^e  provision  made 
for  man's  entire  recovery  is,  to  say  the  least,  as  great  a  proof 
of  benevolence,  as  his  apostasy,  which  involved  us,  could,  by 
any  misrepresentation  or  partial  statement,  be  of  the  opposite. 
Hence,  when  we  hear  men  say  of  our  coming  into  the  world 
with  a  constitutional  bias  towards  evil,  that  God  is  a  hard 
master,  and  treats  us  cruelly,  and  requires  brick  without 
straw,  and  sets  us  adrift  with  the  chances  of  shipwreck  all 
against  us,  we  feel  that  extreme  injustice  is  done  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  ever-blessed  God.  What  would  men  have  had 
their  Maker  do  for  them?  Do  they  insist  that  he  ought  to 
have  given  them  each  a  chance  to  test  the  question  for  him- 
self, whether  to  remain  upright,  or  to  throw  away  his  inher- 
itance, like  Satan  ?  Is  this  the  infinite  privilege  which  they 
covet  ?  Is  God  unrighteous  in  denying  them  the  opportunity 
to  draw,  in  that  lottery,  the  prize  of  eternal  life,  or  the  blank 
alternative,  perdition  ?  Surely,  if  they  reflect  on  the  plan  of 
mercy,  which,  we  maintain,  God  has  devised  for  us,  they  can- 
not, as  men  of  understanding,  impeach  the  divine  benevolence  ; 
and  as  to  its  wisdom,  it  may  be  well  for  us  to  postpone  our 
conclusions  against  it  till  we  are  better  informed  upon  the 
question  whether,  in  the  compass  of  the  divine  knowledge, 
there  was  any  other  expedient  which  was  at  once  so  honorable 
to  God  and  safe  for  man.  But  as  to  benevolence,  there  can 
be  no  reasonable  denial,  that  the  connecting  of  us  with  Adam, 
with  the  intentional  provision  of  a  Redeemer,  is  as  kind,  there 
is  as  much  evidence  in  it  of  love,  as  in  allowing  angels  to  stand 
or  fall  each  upon  his  own  responsibility,  with  no  provision  for 
their  recovery  if  they  apostatized. 

This  view  of  the  case  is  not  invalidated  by  all  the  misery 

which  sin  has  occasioned  in  the  world.     God  is  nof  the  author 

of  it.     He  makes  man  free,  tells  him  what  consequences  will 

ensue  upon  his  obedience  O"  disobedience,  and  then,  if  by  one 

19 


218  GODISLOVE. 

man  sin  enters  into  the  Avorld,  and  death  by  sin,  and  so  death 
passes  upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned,  the  question  is, 
whether  this  is  any  worse  than  it  would  have  been  had  we 
fallen  without  a  Saviour ;  and  whether  we  should  have  fallen 
is  a  question  whose  very  uncertainty  is  fitted  to  appall  the 
mind,  and  to  make  the  absolute  certainty  of  restoration  from 
a  fallen  state  by  a  Redeemer,  if  we  choose  to  accept  it,  an 
object  of  grateful  contemplation,  and  a  proof  that  God  is  love, 
seeing  that  he  is  not  willing  that  men  should  perish. 

Yet,  it  will  be  replied,  they  do  perish,  we  are  told,  by  mil- 
lions, and  they  perish  in  consequence  of  their  strong  constitu- 
tional predisposition  to  sin.  Now,  before  we  suffer  ourselves 
to  impugn  the  goodness  of  God  on  this  score,  would  it  not  be 
well  to  know  whether  or  no  as  many  would  not  have  perished 
if  each  had  had  a  separate  probation.  Then,  if  liability  to 
fall  be  inseparable  from  every  state  of  existence,  the  question 
must  be  removed  back  to  the  very  origin  of  all  things,  and  we 
must  say.  Is  it  right  for  God  to  create  moral  and  accountable 
beings,  some  of  whom  will  voluntarily  sin  and  be  lost  ?  He 
who  feels  competent  to  be  the  judge  of  the  Almighty,  or  even 
to  be  his  counsellor,  needs  at  least  to  read  once  more,  or  per- 
haps for  the  first  time,  the  Almighty's  words  to  Job,  on  the 
expediency  of  sitting  in  judgment  upon  the  eternal  purposes 
of  God.  If  it  be  said  that  such  a  remark  is  fitted  to  silence, 
not  to  satisfy,  it  is  interesting  to  know  that  God  did  not  seek 
to  silence  Job  upon  the  subject,  but  he  addresses  him  thus  : 
''  Gird  up  now  thy  loins  like  a  man,  for  I  will  demand  of  thee, 
and  answer  thou  me."  And  it  is  not  by  metaphysical  ques- 
tions that  the  Most  High  argues  with  him  ;  but  he  makes  use 
of  the  snow,  and  hail,  and  rain,  and  lightnings,  the  lion,  the 
raven,  the  wild  goat,  the  wild  ass,  the  unicorn,  the  ostrich, 
the  peacock,  the  horse,  the  hawk,  the  eagle,  behemoth,  and 
leviathan,  to  show  that  he  to  whom  these  creatures  and  things 


GOD     IS     LOVE.  219 

are  mysteries,  and  more  than  a  match  for  both  his  wisdom 
and  his  strength,  while  they  never  cease  to  fill  him  with  won- 
der and  love  at  the  divine  benevolence  and  skill  in  their 
fornuuion,  may  safely  leave  some  other  questions,  relating  to 
things  higher  than  eagles,  and  deeper  than  the  snows  and 
floods,  to  the  same  wisdom  which  he  does  not  fail  to  recognize 
in  the  works  of  nature. 

But  it  is  said.  The  penalty  which,  it  is  alleged,  God  has 
annexed  to  disobedience,  cannot  be  consistent  with  love  ;  for, 
if  God  knows  from  the  beginning  that  a  great  number  will  sin 
and  sutfer  forever,  his  love  is  not  a  perfect  attribute,  or  love 
surely  does  not  rule  in  his  perfections.  Some  stern  and 
unamiable  principle  gives  its  character  to  the  Being  who  is 
willing  to  see  a  portion  of  his  offspring  miserable  forever, 
when  he  could  have  prevented  it  by  forbearing  to  bestow 
existence  upon  them. 

The  demand  here  seems  to  be  that  God  shall  make  it 
impossible  for  any  of  his  intelligent  creatures  to  commit  sin  ; 
and,  if  he  cannot  do  so,  it  is  claimed  that  true  benevolence 
requires  him  not  to  bring  them  into  existence. 

We  will  forbear  to  consider  the  question  whether,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  God  could  create  moral  beings,  and  yvX 
prevent  them  universally  from  sinning ;  or  the  question  why 
he  cannot  prevent  all,  as  well  as  some,  from  apostasy.  We 
need  not  involve  ourselves  in  the  perplexities  of  that  long- 
debated  point ;  for  there  is  an  answer  to  this  objection  whicii 
lies  outside  of  metaphysical  and  theological  disputes. 

We  have  reason  to  believe  that  angels  who  have  maintai::<'d 
their  integrity  during  their  probation,  and  that  the  ledeemed 
who  have  finished  their  probationary  state  in  this  A\orld,  will 
be  kept  by  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  forever,  and  that 
they  will  "  never  fall."     We  do  not  kno\v  in  what  respects 


220  GOD     IS     LOVE. 

the  divine  influeiice  Avliich  will  keep  them  from  falling  in 
heaven  differs  from  the  divine  influence  which  was  extended 
to  Adam  when  on  probation,  or  why  it  could  not  have  kept 
him  from  falling,  (as  it  will  keep  the  redeemed  from  apos- 
tasy,) and  in  perfect  consistency  with  his  own  liberty.  This 
is  a  region  into  which  the  human  mind  cannot  safely  enter  ; 
for  it  involves  all  those  questions  respecting  the  origin  of  evil 
which  are  still  open  questions.  There  is  a  beautiful  simplicity 
in  the  manner  in  which  the  Saviour  treats  this  subject  — 
the  origin  of  evil  —  in  his  parable  of  the  tares.  "  So  the 
servants  of  the  householder  came  and  said  unto  him,  Sir, 
didst  thou  not  sow  good  seed  in  thy  field  ?  From  whence, 
then,  hath  it  tares  ?  He  said  unto  them.  An  enemy  hath  done 
this."  This  is  all  the  explanation  which  divine  wisdom  has 
revealed  with  regard  to  this  perplexing  subject.  We  are  left 
to  suppose  that,  in  order  to  make  a  universe  of  free  minds,  it 
is  necessary  that  all,  in  som.e  period  of  their  existence,  should 
be  tried  as  to  their  allegiance.  In  saying  this,  we  do  not  step 
beyond  the  bounds  of  revelation  ;  for  we  sui*ely  know  that 
man  was  thus  tried,  and  we  also  know  that  of  the  angels  some 
have  fallen.  Then  the  question  would  be  this  :  Is  it,  after  all, 
injustice  or  unkindness  to  wake  up  an  immortal  spirit  from  non- 
existence, endue  it  with  godlike  powers  and  faculties,  place  it 
under  the  most  favorable  circumstances  in  the  immediate  pres- 
ence of  God,  and  give  it  permission  to  choose  life  or  death  ? 

Let  us  apply  the  question  to  the  following  case,  and  see 
how  we  decide  such  questions  in  human  affairs  :  A  man  at 
the  head  of  the  engraving  department  in  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land is  intrusted  with  great  responsibilities.  If  faithful,  he  is 
of  immense  service  to  the  community  in  the  prevention  of 
counterfeiting.  His  salary  is  in  proportion  to  his  great  re- 
sponsibilities. In  his  silent,  quiet  way,  he  is  the  means  of 
unmeasured  benefit  to  the  commercial  world  :  and  all  these 


GOD     IS     LOVE.  221 

considerations  unite  to  keep  him  upright,  while,  at  the  same 
time,  great  watchfuhiesss  is  exercised  over  him,  and  he  feels 
that  unsleeping  vigilance  marks  every  one  of  his  official  acts. 
But  notwithstanding  all  these  guards,  and  his  powerful  induce- 
ments to  be  honest,  we  will  suppose  that  he  perverts  his  trust, 
commits  large  forgeries,  and  is  transported  for  life,  to  be  a  con- 
vict in  a  penal  colony,  making  his  wife  a  widow,  his  children 
fatherless,  and  covering  his  fiimily  and  friends  with  a  cloud  of 
sorrow  which  is  worse  than  death.  Now,  who  will  undertake 
to  say.  It  is  wrong  to  place  a  human  being  in  circumstances 
where  defalcation  is  possible  ?  Who  will  venture  the  judg- 
ment that  the  inducements  to  uprightness  and  its  great  re- 
wards are  not  consistent  with  benevolence,  because,  if  disre- 
garded, the  consequences  will  be  so  fearful  ?  Surely,  if  men 
should  act  on  this  principle,  which  they  require  at  the  hand 
of  God,  they  could  not  even  employ  a  clerk.  There  must  be 
no  responsibility,  because  it  is  capable  of  being  perverted. 

But  some  who  will  assent  to  this  reasoning,  and  own  that 
probation  is  reasonable  and  just,  demur  to  the  alleged  eternal 
consequences  of  transgression  under  the  government  of  God, 
and  say,  that  it  is  not  consistent  with  the  benevolence  of  God 
that  any  of  his  subjects  should  be  punished  forever,  let  theii 
transgressions  be  whatever  they  may.  They  adopt  this  prin- 
ciple as  the  foundation  of  every  thing,  even  of  the  being  and 
attributes  of  God.  The  ultimate,  eternal  happiness  of  every 
intelligent  being,  they  say,  is  absolutely  required  by  the  great 
law  of  I  enevolence,  and  God  can  neither  be  nor  do  any  thing 
inconsist  mt  with  this. 

Let  us  take  Satan  for  an  illustration.  Let  us  assert,  for  the 
sake  of  the  argument,  that  Satan  is  to  be  punished  without 
end.  Now  it  is  said,  It  cannot  be  true  that  "  God  is  love," 
while  that  great  spirit  is  suffering  the  vengeance  of  eternal 
fire. 

To  this  it  may  be  replied,  Good  parents  punish  a  child  so 
19* 


222  GOD     IS     LOVE. 

long  as  he  sins,  let  the  period  of  transgression  be  as  long  as  it 
may. 

To  flinch  in  the  chastisement,  saying,  After  all,  it  is  too 
much  to  punish  you  io  long,  and  to  keep  you  from  my  love, 
while  the  child  is  as  rebellious  as  ever,  would  subject  the 
parent  to  contempt.  So  long  as  Satan  chooses  to  sin,  we 
must  admit  that  God  does  right  in  continuing  the  punishment. 

If  Satan,  during  the  la.st  five  or  six  thousand  years,  had 
chosen  to  repent,  there  has  been  nothing  to  hinder  him  ;  and 
no  one  can  believe  that,  had  he  repented,  God  would  have 
continued  to  punish  him,  whatever  the  natural  consequences 
of  his  transgression  might  have  been ;  for  we,  when  forgiven, 
may  still  suffer  from  the  natural  effects,  in  body  and  mind, 
of  our  evil  ways.  Yet  if  Satan  were  penitent,  hell  would  be 
a  changed  place  to  him ;  loving  and  fearing  God,  he  would 
have  verified  those  words  which  Milton  puts  into  his  mouth:  — 

*'  The  mind  is  its  ovm.  place,  and  in  itself 
Can  make  a  heaven  of  hell,  a  hell  of  heaven." 

Has  not  Satan  had  opportunity  to  repent  ?  There  is  one  part  of 
his  experience  recorded  in  the  Bible,  which,  we  shall  all  agree, 
should  have  made  him  a  good  angel ;  and  that  is,  his  intercourse 
with  Job.  He  is  suffered  to  strip  Job  of  every  thing,  and  to 
afflict  him  with  the  severest  bodily  anguish  which  infernal  inge- 
nuity could  select.  Job  comes  forth  from  those  trials  a  better 
man.  Satan  sees  that  there  is  that  in  God  which  is  worthy  to 
be  loved  even  under  chastisement,  and  to  be  preferred  above 
possessions  and  children,  and  life  itself;  for,  "though  he  slay 
me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him."  "  Till  I  die,  I  will  not  rem.ove 
mine  integrity  from  me."  But  what  does  Satan  after  this  ? 
He  afiiicts  Israel  in  Egypt  four  hundred  years.  He  insti- 
gates Pharaoh  to  figh;;  af^ainst  God,  and  so  on  to  King  Saul, 
Jeroboam,  Ahab,  and  Jezebel,  "the  man  of  sin,"  the  slave 


GOD     IS     LOVE.  223 

trade,  and  all  the  barbarities  of  war.  Thus,  instead  of  ceasing 
to  sin  against  God,  he  has  been  helping  to  fill  the  world  with 
sin  and  misery.  He  has  seen  the  most  touching  forms  of 
goodness,  vieing  with  the  angelic  beauty  of  his  own  original 
abode.  He  has  seen  Ignatius  bare  his  breast  to  the  lions  in 
the  Roman  amphitheatre,  Polycarp,  John  Huss,  Lambert, 
Ridley,  and  Latimer  embrace  the  stake ;  the  Huguenots  per- 
ishing for  their  religion  "  upon  the  Alpine  Mountains  cold  ;  " 
he  has  seen  John  Bunyan  bid  adieu  to  his  poor  little  blind 
child,  and  go  into  Bedford  jail  for  twelve  years  for  Christ's 
sake  and  the  gospel's,  —  he  has  seen  all  this,  and  has  not  re- 
lented in  his  opposition  to  Christ.  Were  there  any  thing  in 
love  and  pity  to  redeem  the  soul,  he  could  not  have  lived 
through  such  scenes,  and  have  also  witnessed  the  times  of 
Christ,  the  transactions  in  Gethsemane,  the  judgment  hall, 
Calvary,  and  at  the  Resurrection,  and  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
and  not  have  been  reclaimed.  We  should  have  to  draw  to 
a  greater  degree  on  fancy  to  invent  a  more  favorable  proba- 
tion for  him,  than  human  fancy  has  ever  yet  shown  itself  able 
to  depict.  Li  addition  to  all  this,  the  loss  of  heaven,  and  what- 
ever there  must  have  been  of  rigor  in  the  sufferings  of  such 
a  being  as  he  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God,  must  have  sup- 
plied him  with  sufficient  demonstration  how  fruitless  it  is  to 
fight  against  God  his  Maker.  Sympathy  for  such  a  being  is 
misplaced,  even  though  he  shall  forever  eat  the  fruit  of  his 
doings. 

But  here  is  poor,  frail,  sinful  man ;  —  he  sins  away  his 
day  of  grace.     Shall  a  God  of  love  deal  thus  with  him  ? 

We  must  all  believe  that  in  no  instance  will  endless  retri- 
butions be  inflicted,  if  at  all,  on  a  human  being,  in  which  tlie 
justice  of  the  infliction  will  not  commend  itself  to  the  judg- 
ment of  every  benevolent  mind  as  fully  as  in  the  case  of 
Sata  :  himself.     Eut  in  arguing  upon  this  subject,  men  love 


224  GOD     IS     LOYE. 

to  invent  cases  of  extreme  hardship,  and  then  they  appeal 
to  our  sensibilities  against  the  justice  and  benevolence  of 
God.  For  example  :  Here,  they  say,  is  a  youth  about  fifteen 
years  of  age,  subject  to  the  infirmities  and  temptations  of  im- 
mature life ;  he  is  not  mterested  in  rehgious  things,  yet  by 
no  means  openly  vicir>»us;  he  passes  along  heedless  of  the 
future.  He  is  drowned.  There  is  no  evidence  that  he  feared 
God,  or  that  he  had  complied  with  the  terms  of  salvation. 
He  had  a  very  short  probation.  Subtract  the  years  of  mere 
childhood  from  the  term  of  his  life,  and  it  seems  appalling  to 
think  of  eternity  deriving  its  hopeless  character  from  the  in- 
discretions and  follies  of  seven  or  eight  years,  and  those  the 
most  thoughtless  years  of  life,  the  most  unfavorable  to  pru- 
dent consideration.  It  is  demanded  whether  we  believe  that 
God  will  shut  the  door  of  mercy  upon  that  youth  forever,  and 
whether  we  deem  it  just  to  cut  him  off,  and  consign  him  to 
hopeless  woe,  wliile  a  companion,  who  escapes  death  at  the 
same  time,  lives  to  the  age  of  sixty,  and  enjoys  tenfold  oppor- 
tunities to  be  saved,  and  thereby  obtains  salvation. 

The  answer  to  this  is  twofold.  In  the  first  place.  We 
greatly  err  in  shutting  the  door  of  hope,  ourselves,  against 
any  sinner  as  a  subject  of  repentance  and  faith.  Little  do  we 
know  what  has  taken  place  between  the  soul  and  God  in  the 
apparently  most  hardened  cases  of  sin,  or  in  the  most  thought- 
less and  trifling  young  person,  where  sudden  death  has  cut 
short  the  day  of  grace.  Should  all  that  may  have  transpired 
in  such  cases  be  disclosed,  perhaps  it  would  have  the  effect  to 
harden  others  in  their  sin,  and  would  lead  to  great  presump- 
tion. A  wise  silence  is  preserved,  and  thus  our  wholesome 
fears  are  permitted  to  act  in  deterring  us  from  trespassing  on 
divine  forbearance.  At  the  same  time,  no  one  can  say  what 
intercourse  the  Spirit  of  God  may  have  h.ad  with  the  soul  in 
the  near  approach  of  death,  and   even   in  cases  w^iere  the 


GOD     IS     LOYE.  225 

senses  cannot  report  to  the  bystanders  the  operations  of  the 
mind.  Perhaps  it  will  not  be  deemed  unsuitable  here  to 
say,  It  was  not  without  warrant  in  the  possibilities  of  divine 
mercy  that  a  friend,  on  a  certain  occasion,  presumingly  sought 
to  impart  consolation  to  mourning  parents,  whose  son,  a  grace- 
less youth,  was  killed  by  being  thrown  from  a  horse.  This 
friend  succeeded  in  writing  certain  words  on  a  plantain  leaf 
which  had  grown  up  from  the  youth's  grave ;  and  the  pious 
mother,  as  she  was  one  day  kneeling  there,  descried  these 
words  upon  the  leaf :  — 

"  Betwixt  the  saddle  and  the  ground 
"Was  mercy  asked,  and  pardon  found." 

This  was  easily  interpreted  by  many  as  a  preternatural 
revelation  to  the  mother,  that  her  child  repented  and  found 
pardon  through  Christ  in  the  last  moments  of  a  wicked  life. 
No  one  will  say  that  the  assertion  in  this  fraud  had  no  warrant 
in  the  nature  of  things. 

We  charge  God  foolishly  if  we  impute  to  him  vindictive 
acts  before  we  know  that  they  have  occurred. 

We  have  another  answer  to  the  inquiry  now  under  con- 
sideration. A  young  person  may  as  intelligently  and  deliber- 
ately refuse  the  offers  of  eternal  life,  and  choose  to  risk  the 
consequences  of  eternal  death,  as  a  person  of  the  maturesf 
age.  This  is  subject  to  the  judgment  of  Him  who  "  will 
not  lay  on  man  more  than  right,  that  he  should  enter  into 
judgment  with  God.  For  the  work  of  a  man  will  he  render 
unto  him,  and  cause  every  man  to  find  his  own  way."  God 
can  place  the  subject  of  religion  before  the  mind  of  a  youth 
with  such  clearness,  and  vividness,  and  persuasion ;  cause  him 
to  be  approached  and  followed  with  such  heavenly  influences 
from  every  source  which  divine  and  human  love  can  employ, 
and  set  before  him  the  endless  consequences  of  his  conduct. 


226  GODISLOVE. 

and  the  youth  may  deliberately  reject  his  God  and  Saviour, 
and  make  answer  that  he  would  prefer  banishment  from  God 
rather  than  love  such  a  being  as  he  clearly  perceives  him  to 
be,  or  to  be  saved  in  such  a  way  as  the  gospel  makes  plain 
to  his  understanding,  —  so  that  God  will  remove  him  from  this 
world,  where  his  example  and  influence  would  corrupt  many 
others,  and  suffer  him  to  indulge  his  opinions  and  feelings 
among  those  of  his  own  tastes  and  preferences.  How  long 
this  sinner  shall  remain  in  this  world  of  probation  before  he 
is  removed  to  a  state  of  penal  infliction,  God,  the  Judge,  will 
decide.     "  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right  ?  " 

This  illustration,  in  some  of  its  particulars,  has  been  drawn 
from  a  recent  statement  to  the  writer  by  a  very  intelligent 
lady  now  deceased,  with  regard  to  her  feelings  and  words 
during  the  period  of  youth,  when  convinced  of  her  sins  and 
of  the  way  of  salvation  by  Christ.  She  told  her  Christian 
friends  that  she  fully  understood  the  idea  of  justification  by 
faith,  without  w^orks,  through  the  sufferings  and  death  of 
Christ,  but  that  she  hated  it  with  a  cordial  hatred ;  that  she 
never  would  submit  to  be  saved  in  that  way  ;  and  that  if 
heaven  was  to  be  obtained  only  in  that  way,  she  would  say 
to  God  that  she  did  not  wish  to  have  any  part  in  his  heaven, 
and  that  he  might  dispose  of  her  as  he  pleased.  These  were 
precisely  her  words.  It  could  truly  be  said  to  her,  "  Ye  have 
both  seen  and  hated  both  me  and  my  Father."  There  are  feel- 
ings in  many  an  unrenewed  heart  which  do  not  make  such 
explicit  and  bold  expression  of  themselves;  but  many  will 
recognize  in  these  words  their  own  fearful  simiHtude.  This 
deliberate  and  almost  impious  rejection  of  divine  wisdom  and 
love  in  Christ  Jesus,  did  not  meet  with  what  might  be  deemed 
its  just  recompense  of  reward ;  for,  by  methods  of  gentle  and 
winning  grace,  that  heart  was  prevailed  upon  to  accept  the 
way  of  salvation  by  a  Redeemer,  and   the  penitent  lived  to  a 


GOD     IS    LOVE.  227 

good  age,  eminently  useful  in  bringing  souls  to  Christ,  and  in 
leading  some  to  be  preachers  of  that  faith  which  once  she 
destroyed.  But  if  God  had  taken  her  at  her  word,  and  had 
removed  her  from  time  into  eternity,  leaving  her  to  her  own 
"ihoice,  one  thing  is  certain,  that  she  could  never  have  im- 
peached his  goodness  in  suflfering  her  to  choose  for  herself, 
and  for  being  willing  to  lie  down  in  endless  sorrow  rather  than 
to  sing  "forced  hallelujahs"  in  heaven. 

But  now  it  will  be  said,  Inasmuch  as  'God  was  love*  in 
thus  turning  her  from  her  sin  and  folly,  we  believe  that  in  the 
next  world  he  will  be  the  same  ;  he  will  perform  similar  acts  of 
grace  in  eternity,  or  we  cannot  "believe  that  his  character  as  a 
God  of  love  is  perfect. 

The  answer  to  this  may  be  as  follows :  Whatever  God 
might  do  for  the  recovery  of  the  soul  in  the  world  to  come,  he 
cannot  surpass  that  which,  if  we  believe  the  gospel,  he  has 
already  done  to  save  us.  This  remark,  it  will  be  borne  in 
mind,  does  not  touch  the  question  w^iether  God  will  do  any 
thing  more  hereafter  to  save  the  soul ;  but  we  may  say  without 
fear  of  contradiction,  that  nothing  can  exceed  the  incarnation 
of  the  Word,  and  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ,  as  an 
expression  and  proof  of  love  to  sinners.  If  this  be  granted, 
it  cannot  be  said  that,  after  having  bestowed  the  utmost  proof 
of  love  on  men,  if  God  should,  at  a  given  time,  cease  in  his 
efforts  to  reclaim  them,  this  is  a  just  allegation  against  him  as 
wanting  in  perfect  love.  "  What  more  could  I  do  in  my  vine- 
yard that  I  have  not  done  in  it  ?  "  Shall  I,  by  omnipotent 
force,  create  grapes  on  vines  which  my  sun  and  ran,  ray  til- 
lage and  dressing,  have  failed  to  make  fruitful  ? 

But  it  may  be  said,  God  has  not,  in  this  world,  tried  the 
effect  of  severity  to  its  full  extent.  If  God  is  perfect  in  his 
love,  he  will  not  give  over  till  he  has  used  extreme  measures 
of  chastisement  to  save  an  immortal  soul. 


228  GODISLOYE. 

This  implies  that  chastisement  can  succeed  to  accomplish 
that  which  infinite  loving  kindness  has  failed  to  do. 

We  ha\e  had  one  great  experiment  tried  before  our  eyes, 
as  to  chastisement  being  the  ultimate  means  of  reformation, 
in  the  history  of  the  Jews.  More  of  them,  by  a  hundred  fold, 
were  converted  under  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  apart  from 
their  chastisements,  than  have  been  converted  during  their 
centuries  of  punishment.  The  experiment  is  sufficient  to 
show  that  chastisement,  of  itself,  is  not  "  the  power  of  God 
and  the  wisdom  of  God  unto  salvation."  Christ  is  'that 
"  power,"  that  "  wisdom."  Ages  of  woe,  mingled  with  prom- 
ises of  restoration,  have  not  succeeded  in  making  the  Jews 
submit  to  the  Messiah.  But  affliction,  of  itself,  even  while 
holding  in  its  hand  exceeding  great  and  precious  promises, 
cannot  reclaim  the  Jewish  people,  in  a  world  of  mercy,  from 
their  infidelity.  He  who  believes  that  any  process  of  recovery 
is  to  succeed  the  atonement  by  Christ,  we  will  not  say,  gets  no 
encouragement  to  his  belief  from  the  Bible,  but,  does  infinite 
discredit  to  the  atonement,  as  the  grand  and  ultimate  method 
of  influencing  man  as  a  moral  agent ;  and,  if  the  Bible  does 
not  represent  Christ  and  his  sacrifice  to  be  the  last  effort  of 
mercy,  and  the  rejection  of  him  to  be  followed  by  "  everlast- 
ing destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,"  and  with  being 
"  unjust  still,"  language  can  make  no  certain  impressions  upon 
the  mind.  Surely  we  may  expect  that  the  brightness  of  the 
Father's  glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person,  would  be 
employed  hereafter  to  conduct  whatever  remedial  measures 
might  be  used  to  recover  the  soul  from  sin  ;  and  yet  it  does 
not  look  like  a  continuation  of  his  merciful  presence  and 
influence  t)  say  to  the  hopeful  subjects  of  his  continued  grace, 
"  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared 
for  the  devil  and  his  angels  !  " 

Tes,  "  God  is  love,"  now  and  forever ;  and  the  darkest 


GOD     IS     LOVE.  229 

parts  of  his  system  are  far  from  countervailing  the  proofs  of 
it  afforded  by  all  that  we  know  of  his  ways.  They  who  take 
mournful  views  of  the  present  world,  and  of  their  afflicted 
and  sinful  state,  should  remember  that,  in  coming  into  this 
world,  we  strike  upon  a  road  which  proceeds  from  a  region 
of  blessedness,  and  leads  to  a  condition  of  surpassing  glory ; 
but  the  section  over  wdiich  we  are  passing  is,  for  wise  rea- 
sons, one  of  trial  and  sorrow.  We  must  take  into  view  the 
past  and  the  future  of  the  great  career ;  and,  if  we  obey,  we 
shall  at  last  have  infinite  reasons  for  gratitude  that  we  have 
been  brought  into  being.  For,  if  God  is  love,  he  is  this  to 
every  one  who  is  willing  to  love  him ;  and  if  any  refuse,  they 
have  but  their  choice.  Let  the  heavens,  earth,  and  seas  bring 
their  testimonies  that  God  is  love" ;  let  sight,  and  taste,  and 
smell,  and  touch,  all  the  melodies  and  harmonies  of  the  w^orld, 
and  all  the  sensibilities  of  the  soul,  declare  that  God  is  love  : 
we  have  in  the  incarnation  and  sacrifice  of  Christ  a  proof 
which  exceeds  them  all.  One  of  the  persons  in  the  Godhead 
takes  the  form  of  man,  lies  in  the  manger  of  Bethlehem, 
passes  through  the  conditions  of  youth  and  manhood,  and  at 
last  is  made  a  sacrifice  for  our  sins.  This  is,  as  literally  as  it 
could  be,  our  Creator  suffering  in  our  stead.  He  was  "  made 
in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin,"  and  "  bare  our  sins 
in  his  own  body  on  the  tree."  '  If  we  esteem  it  a  calamity 
that  we  come  into  the  world  with  a  bias  towards  evil,  he  has 
set  over  against  it  this  manifestation  of  infinite  love  towards 
us,  so  that  no  one  need  perish  ;  no  one  will  perish  Avho  Avould 
not,  probably,  have  lost  his  birthright  had  he  stood  for  himself 
in  some  Eden,  or  in  heaven  ;  for  he  who  will  not  believe  in 
and  accept  Jesus  Christ,  has  no  reason  to  think  that,  if  made 
upright  and  placed  on  probation,  he  could  have  preferred  the 
favor  of  God  to  every  possible  solicitation  to  sin,  or  could 
have  resisted  his  desires  for  untasted  good,  more  easily  than 
20 


230  GOD     IS     LOVE. 

he  can  now  resist  the  present  poor  and  unsatisfying  pleasures 
of  sin,  in  preference  to  the  love  and  service  of  his  Redeemer. 
And  now,  while  love  will  lead  and  guide  all  the  acts  of 
God,  we  have  assurance  that  it  will  not  be  a  weak  love ;  it 
can  never  excite  the  suspicion  of  imbecility  :  on  the  contrary, 
all  the  attributes  of  God  are  filled  with  love,  and  love  is  filled 
with  all  the  attributes  of  God.  If  we  decline  the  proposals 
which  this  love  and  wisdom  make  to  us  as  intelligent  and  free 
subjects  of  the  divine  government ;  if  we  refuse  to  believe  the 
simple,  plain  story  of  sin  and  redemption,  and  prefer  our  false 
philosophy  ;  if  it  must  be  said  of  us,  "  lie  feedeth  on  ashes ; 
a,  deceived  heart  hath  turned  him  aside,  so  that  he  cannot 
deliver  his  soul,  nor  say.  Is  there  not  a  lie  in  my  right  hand?" 
and  so  we  take  the  risk  of  going  into  the  next  world  without  a 
Saviour,  one  thing  is  sure  —  we  shall,  nevertheless,  be  eter- 
nally the  monuments  of  the  truth  that  God  is  love.  Our 
consciences  will  bear  witness  to  it ;  for  we  shall  remember  how, 
in  our  lifetime,  we  received  our  good  things,  and  we  shall  per- 
ceive what  good  things  they  were,  to  have  been  created  under 
such  a  dispensation  as  that  of  the  gospel,  with  its  astonishing 
provisions  and  appliances  to  effect  our  salvation  and  happi- 
ness ;  and  in  our  separation  from  those  who,  unlike  us,  chose  to 
love  and  worship  at  a  throne  which  is  called  "  the  throne  of 
God  and  of  the  Lamb,"  we  shall  ourselves  illustrate  the  love 
of  God  in  not  suffering  tlie  universe  to  present  such  a  mingled 
conflict  of  good  and  evil  as  the  world  presents.  "  As  there- 
fore the  tares  are  gathered  and  burned  in  the  fire,  so  shall  it 
be  in  the  end  of  the  world.  The  Son  of  man  shall  send  forth 
his  angels,  and  they  shall  gather  out  of  his  kingdom  all  things 
that  offend,  and  them  that  do  iniquity,  and  shall  cast  them  into  a 
furnace  of  fire  ;  there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth." 
When  a  man  suffers  capital  punishment,  it  is  discretionary,  in 
certain  cases,  for  the  government  to  give  up  his  body  to  the 


GOD     IS     LOVE.  231 

surgeons?,  and  so  the  felon  subserves  the  purposes  of  science 
and  humanity,  and  invohmtarilj  helps  to  heal  and  save  men. 
"  The  Lord  hath  made  all  things  for  himself,  yea,  even  the 
wicked  for  the  day  of  evil."  To  every  soul  he  will  say, 
"  Friend,  I  do  thee  no  wrong."  lie  "  will  have  all  men  to 
be  s?.ved  and  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth."  "  As  I 
live,  saith  the  Lord,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  him 
that  dieth,  but  that  the  wicked  turn  and  live.  Turn  ye,  turn 
ye,  for  why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel  ?  "  But  God  will 
eventually  use  all,  and  every  thing,  to  glorify  him.  The  com- 
monwealth does  not  desire  convics  for  the  sake  of  their  man- 
ual labor,  but  if  they  make  themselves  felons,  the  state  will 
avail  itself  of  their  handicraft. 

As  there  is  nothing  which  grows  that  affords  us  more  pleas- 
ure than  a  noble  vine,  God  selects  it  as  an  illustration  of  men, 
when  they  fulfil  the  purpose  of  their  creation  ;  and  if  they  do  not, 
he  represents  them  to  be  as  useless  and  worthless  as  the  wood 
of  the  vine.  "  Son  of  man,  what  is  the  vine  more  than  any 
tree?  Shall  wood  be  taken  thereof  to  do  any  work?  Or  will 
men  take  a  pin  of  it  to  hang  any  vessel  thereon  ?  Behold, 
it  is  cast  into  the  fire  for  fuel ;  the  fire  devoureth  both  the 
ends  of  it,  and  the  midst  of  it  is  burned.  Is  it  meet  for  any 
work?"^  Thus  the  soul  of  man  is  capable  of  perpetual 
advancement  towards  God;  but  if  it  persists  in  sin,  it  is  no 
more  "  meet  for  any  work."  As  no  good  use  can  be  made  of 
a  bad  book,  an  obscene  picture,  or  garments  infected  with  con- 
tagious disease,  but  they  must  be  buried  or  burned,  so  the 
sinner,  if  he  cannot  be  reclaimed,  must  be  disposed  of  in  such 
a  way  as  wisdom  and  justice  shall  determine.  But  some  be- 
stow all  their  sympathy  on  the  incorrigible  sinner,  and  forget 
that  there  are  rights  and  privileges  belonging  to  others  — 
rights  of  protection,  rights  of  self-defence  —  which,  to  say  the 
I'^ast,  are  of  equal  importance  with  his.  Others  seem  to  make 
1  Ezck.  xY. 


232  GOD     IS     LOVE. 

small  account  of  sin ;  they  see  no  reason  for  future,  endless 
punishment,  because  they  perceive  nothing  to  punish.  Others 
seem  to  think  of  God  only  as  of  a  fond  parent,  who  has  no 
object  but  to  see  his  children  enjoy  themselves,  and  with  whom 
the  shutting  up  of  one  of  his  oifspring  in  close  confinement  for 
life  would  be  impossible  ;  and  is  he,  they  say,  more  humane 
than  God  ?  But  so  long  as  there  are  such  subjects  as  Satan 
and  his  angels,  and  wicked  men,  to  be  governed,  there  is,  of 
course,  a  God  with  a  character  appropriate  to  his  office  as  gov- 
ernor of  these  his  subjects.  A  man  with  such  softness  of  char- 
acter as  many  impute  to  the  Most  High,  would  not  have  the 
qualifications  necessary  in  the  humblest  magistrate ;  he  could 
not  be  trusted  to  try  a  question  which  involved  the  personal 
liberty  of  an  offender.  It  is  enough  to  make  one  sick  and 
faint  at  heart  to  think  of  such  a  being  as  at  the  head  of  affairs. 
Far  different  is  the  God  whom  we  have,  for  example,  in  the 
vision  of  Nahum,  the  Elkoshite,  —  in  which  terror  and  beauty 
vie  with  each  other :  "  God  is  jealous,  and  the  Lord  re- 
vengeth ;  the  Lord  revengeth,  and  is  furious ;  the  Lord  taketh 
vengeance  on  his  adversaries,  and  he  reserveth  wrath  for  his 
enemies.  The  Lord  is  slow  to  anger,  and  great  i-n  power,  and 
will  not  at  all  acquit  the  wicked ;  the  Lord  hath  his  way  in 
the  whirlwind  and  in  the  storm,  and  the  clouds  are  the  dust  of 
his  feet.  Who  can  stand  before  his  indignation  ?  and  who  can 
abide  in  the  fierceness  of  his  anger  ?  His  fury  is  poured  out 
like  fire,  and  the  rocks  are  thrown  down  by  him.  The  Lord 
is  good,  a  stronghold  in  the  day  of  trouble,  and  he  knoweth 
them  that  trust  in  him ;  but  with  an  overrunning  flood  he  will 
make  an  utter  end  thereof,  and  darkness  shall  pursue  his 
enemies." 

If  there  be  such  a  God,  and  our  aversion  to  him  be  owing 
to  any  moral  perversity  on  our  part,  there  will  be  no  need  of 
outward  inflictions  to  make  us  completely  wretched,  so  long  as 
we  remain  alienated  from  him.     Our  condition  for  eternity 


GOD     IS     LOVE.  233 

would,  therefore,  be  hopeless,  unless  in  this  world  we  si.ould 
become  reconciled  to  God  ;  for,  if  this  aversion  is  based  upon 
any  correct  perception  of  his  character,  the  more  we  know  of 
him  the  more  shall  we  desire  to  flee  from  him. 

This  brings  us  to  one  more  proof  that  God  is  love,  which 
must  by  no  means  be  omitted.  All  men  are  by  nature  averse 
to  the  character  and  government  of  God,  by  reason  of  sin. 
Tills  is  true  not  only  of  those  who  by  tlie  force  of  education 
are  prejudiced  against  what  are  called  the  evangelical  doc- 
trines, but  of  those  also  who  have  been  taught  to  believe  them. 
Every  man  by  nature  has  "the  carnal  mind"  which  "  is  en- 
mity against  God  ;  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God, 
neither  indeed  can  be."  This  aversion  is  criminal ;  yet  it  is 
such  that,  if  left  to  themselves,  all  will,  freely  and  wickedly, 
refuse  to  love  and  obey  God.  The  fall  has  not  impaired 
man's  natural  ability  to  love  goodness  ;  of  course,  man  is  capa- 
ble of  loving  infinite  goodness  ;  but  that  exists  in  one  whose  will 
is  contrary  to  that  of  the  sinner,  and  to  whose  moral  character 
the  sinner,  while  he  loves  sin,  has  an  utter  dh^taste  ;  so  that 
no  one  can  even  come  to  Christ  except  the  Father,  Avhich  hath 
sent  him,  draw  him.  In  this  direful  predicament,  God  inter- 
poses, and  overcomes  the  sinful  reluctance  of  some ;  and  still 
the  invitation  is,  "  Whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of 
life  freely;"  but  while  many  refuse,  others  are  persuaded 
and  enabled  to  embrace  Jesus  Christ  as  he  is  freely  offei-ed  in 
the  gospel.  They  then  experience  that  new  birth  which  is 
the  special  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  will  seem  fuperfiu- 
ous  to  some  that  it  should  be  said,  that  whoever,  for  ex- 
ample, is  reading  these  lines  is  as  welcome  to  all  the  blessings 
of  the  gospel  as  any  other.  No  secret  decree  prevents  him 
from  obtaining  the  full  benefits  of  salvation  by  Christ.  No 
abuse  of  privileges,  no  rejection  of  offered  mercy,  no  hard 
thoughts,  nor  unjust  accur-ations,  of  his  Maker,  nor  even 
blasphemous  words  against  him,  have  shut  the  door  of  mercy 
20* 


234  GOD     IS     LOYE. 

upon  his  soul.  He  who,  for  his  sake,  lay  in  the  manger  at 
Bethlehem,  and  expired  on  the  cross,  is  now  his  advocate  on 
high,  and  as  a  fruit  of  his  merits,  the  Holy  Spirit  strives  to 
bring  the  soul  to  God.  Let  him  reflect  how  marked  the  deal- 
ings of  God  have  been  with  him,  in  his  preservations,  bless- 
ings, and  trials,  and  in  the  means  employed  to  keep  him  back 
from  presumptuous  faults,  and  to  bring  his  attention  again  and 
again  to  the  subject  of  religion;  let  him  consider,  if,  in  all 
this,  there  be  not  some  appearance  of  a  desire  to  effect  his 
salvation,  and  that,  too,  notwithstanding  great-  provocations  to 
give  him  up  forever.  Is  there  any  love  like  this  ?  Not  only 
in  the  ransom  paid  for  us,  but  in  the  persevering  efforts  of 
injured  mercy,  in  behalf  of  every  one  of  us,  there  are  proofs 
that  God  is  love  which  will  furnish  us  with  our  principal  testi- 
mony to  that  truth. 

It  may,  therefore,  be  said  to  every  one,  let  his  character  be 
as  it  may,  God  loves  you.  Complacency  in  us  while  we  are 
wicked,  of  course,  he  cannot  feel ;  but  there  are  feelings  of 
love  on  the  part  of  God  towards  every  one,  such  as  are  not 
equalled  by  any  human  interest  in  the  object  of  its  good  will. 
"While  the  displeasure  of  God  against  sin,  and  the  necessity 
of  its  endless  punishment,  are  fundamental  trutlis,  God  is 
love  ;  hell  is  not  the  exponent  of  his  character ;  it  is  a  sub- 
sidiary in  his  administration  ;  but  as  Gehenna  did  not  lie 
where  the  Temple,  "  beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy  of  the 
whole  earth,  on  the  sides  of  the  north,"  was  built,  so  the  fore- 
most object  in  the  Deity  is  not  wrath,  nor  punishment.  But 
when  Moses  prayed,  "  I  beseech  thee  show  me  thy  glory,"  the 
Lord  said,  "  I  will  make  all  my  goodness  pass  before  thee  ; " 
yet  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  he  immediately  adds,  And  I  "  will 
be  gracious  to  whom  I  will  be  gracious,  and  will  show  mercy 
on  whom  I  will  show  mercy  ; "  —  in  which  expressions  we  see 
that  while  grace  and  mercy  are  set  forth  to  make  the  chief 
impressions  of  the  divine  character,  they  are  enunciated  m  a 


GOD     IS     LOVE.  235 

way  to  suggest  the  idea  of  discrimination  in  the  manner  in 
which  they  are  exercised.  And  so  when,  on  Sinai,  God  pro- 
claimed his  name  at  the  renewal  of  the  tables  of  stone,  it  was 
"  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  long  suffering,  and 
abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands, 
forgiving  iniquity,  and  transgression,  and  sin,  visiting  the 
iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  and  upon  the  chil- 
dren's children,  unto  the  third  and  to  the  fourth  generation." 
Here  the  predominant  impression  is  that  of  goodness ;  yet 
the  very  term  '''-long-suffering^^  suggests  that  there  are  bounds 
to  mercy,  while  the  avowed  principle  of  connecting  parent} 
and  children,  as  here  described,  makes  one  feel  that  the  char- 
acter of  God  has  depths  in  it  which  are  not  all  explored,  nor 
sounded,  by  the  analogy  of  earthly  parentage.  If  we  leave 
out  any  essential  attribute  from  the  character  of  God,  we  do 
not  worship  the  true  God.  At  the  same  time,  there  is  an 
order  and  a  proportion,  in  those  attributes,  to  disregard  which 
is  like  applying  the  wrong  end  of  a  magnet  for  a  given  pur- 
pose. As  we  are  sinners,  all  the  attributes  of  God  have 
relation  to  us  ;  and  hence  it  is  that  redemption,  unfolding 
all  those  attributes  in  their  various  exercise,  and  in  disclosing 
to  us,  as  it  were  by  necessity,  the  mystery  in  the  divine  nature 
of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  is  represented  as  the  chief 
work  of  Jehovah. 

Each  of  us  is  urged  to  be  a  subject  of  that  redemption,  and 
to  afford  an  illustration  of  the  attributes  of  God  in  our  sal- 
vation, and  not  in  our  future,  endless  punishment.  "  For  God 
so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  ever- 
lasting life.     For  God  sent  not  his  Son  into  the  world 

TO  CONDEMN  THE  WORLD,  BUT  THAT  THE  WORLD  THROUGH 
HIM  MIGHT  BE  SAVED." 


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A  WREATH  AROUND  THE  CROSS;  or,  Scripture  Truths  Illustrated. 
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DR.  JOHN  HARRIS'  WORKS. 

THE   GREAT   TEACHER ;  or,  Characteristics  of  our  Lord's  Ministry.    By  John 
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THE  GREAT  COMMISSION  ;  or,  the  Christian  Church  constituted  and 
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"  This  volume  will  afford  the  reader  an  intellectual  and  spiritual  banquet  of  the  highest  order."  — 
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THE  PRE-ADAMITE  EARTH.  Contributions  to  Theological  Science.  By 
JoH«  Harris,  D.  D.     New  and  revised  edition.     12mo,  cloth,  $1.00. 

Ti/rA"iSr  PRIMEVAL;  or,  the  Constitution  and  Primitive  Condition  of  the  Human 
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PATRIARCHY ;  or,  the  Family,  its  Constitution  and  Probation.  12mo,  cloth,  $1.25. 
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SERMOISrS,    CHARGES,   ADDRESSES,  &c.,  delivered  by  Dr.  Harris  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  during  the  height  of  his  reputation  as  a  preacher.     Two  ele- 
gant volumes,  octavo,  cloth,  each,  $100. 
The  immense  sale  of  all  this  author's  Works  attests  thei^  intrinsic  worth  and  great  popularity. 

LECTURES  ON"  THE  LORD'S  PRAYER.  By  William  R.  Williams, 
D.  D.     Third  edition.     12mo,  cloth,  85  cts. 

"  We  are  constantly  reminded,  in  reading  his  eloquent  pages,  of  the  old  English  writers,  whose 
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haustible mine  for  the  scholars  of  the  present  day."  —  Ch.  Observer. 

RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS;  Discourses  on  the  Derelopment  of  the  Christian 
Character.     By  William  R.  Williams,  D.  D.     Thu-d  edition.     12mo,  doth,  85  cts. 

"  His  power  of  apt  and  forcible  illustration  is  without  a  parallel  among  modem  writers.  The  mute 
pngcs  spring  into  life  beneath  the  magic  of  his  radiant  imagination.  But  this  is  never  at  the 
expense  of  solidity  of  thought,  or  strength  of  argument.  It  is  seldom,  indeed,  that  a  mind  of  so 
much  poetical  invention  yields  such  a  willing  homage  to  the  logical  element."  —  Uarper's  Jlouthly 
Miscellaitif. 

MISCELLAITISS.     By  William  R.  Williams,  D.  D.     New  and  improved  edition. 

Price  Reduced.     12mo,  cloth,  $1.25. 

C5~  "  Dr.  Williami  is  a  profound  scholar  and  a  brilliant  wi-iter." —  y.  Y.  Evangelist. 

THE  PREACHER  AND  THE  KING;  or,  Bourdaloue  in  the  Court  af  Louis 
XIV.  5  being  an  Account  of  the  Pulpit  Eloquence  of  that  distinguished  era.  Translated 
from  the  French  of  L.  F.  Bcxgener,  Paris.  Introduction  by  the  Rev.  George  Potts, 
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THE  PRIEST  AND  THE  HUGUENOT;  or,  Persecution  in  the  Age  of 
Louis  XV     Translated  from  the  French  of  L.  F.  Bungener.    Two  vols.  12mo,  cloth,  $2.25. 

©3-  This  is  not  only  a  work  of  thrilling  interest,—  no  fiction  could  exceed  it,  —  but,  as  a  Proteg- 
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PHILOSOPHY  OP  TEE  PLAN  OF  SALVATION;  a  Book  fortho 
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YAIIVEH    CHRIST;   or,  The  3Iemorial  Name.     By  Alexander  MacWhorter. 

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A  D.iy  in  the  Life  of  Jesus.—  The  Benevolence  of  the  Gospel.-  The  Fall  of  Peter.  —  C]laracte^ 
of  BaUumi.— Veracity.  —  The  Church  of  Christ.  —  The  Unity  of  the  Church.  —  Duty  of  Obedi- 
ence to  the  Civil  iMagistrate  (threfc  Sermons). 

THE  GREAT  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT  ;  or,  Meditations  and  Prayers  on 
the  Last  Twenty-four  Hours  of  the  isufTerings  and  Death  of  Our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
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THE  EXTENT  OP  THE  ATONEMENT  IN  ITS  KELATION 
TO  GOD  AND  THE  UHiVEBSB.  By  llev.  Thomas  W.  Jenkvn,  D.  D., 
late  President  of  Coward  College,  London.     12mo,  cloth,  $1.00. 

This  work  was  thoroughly  revised  by  the  author  not  long  before  his  death,  exclusively  for  the 
present  publisliers.  It  has  long  been  a  standard  work,  and  without  doiibt  presents  the  most  com- 
plete discussion  of  the  ,«ubjeet  in  the  languafTc. 

"  Wc  consider  this  volume  as  setting  the  long  and  fiercely  agitated  question  as  to  the  extent  of 
the  Atonement  completely  at  rest.  Posterity  will  thank  the  autlior  till  the  latest  ages  for  his  illus- 
trious argument."  —  Xew  York  Evawjelist. 

THE  SUFFERING  SAVIOUR  ;  or.  Meditations  on  the  Last  Days  of  Christ, 
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the  reader  to  the  work  itself."  —  Xcics  of  the  Cltuvdies  (Scottisli). 

THE  IMITATION  OF  CHRIST.  By  Thomas  a  Kempis.  With  an  Introv 
ductory  Kssay,  liy  Tnn.MAS  Chalmers,  1).  D.  Edited  by  TTq-vvard  Malcom,  D.  D.  A 
new  edition,  with  a  Life  of  Tiidma.s  a  Ki.mpis,  liy  Dr.  C.  Ullmann,  author  of  ''Re- 
formers before  the  Reformation."     12mo,  cloth,  85  cts. 

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Work.  It  is  reprinted  from  Payne's  edition,  collated  with  an  ancient  Latin  copy.  The  peculiar 
feature  of  this  new  edition  is  the  improved  page,  the  elegant,  large,  clear  type,  and  the  New  Life 
OF  a  Kempis,  by  Dr.  L'lhnann.  (1  3) 


GOULD    AND    LINCOLN, 

59  "WASHINGTON  STREET,  BOSTON, 

Vrould  call  particular  attention  to  the  following  valuable  works  described 
in  their  Catalogue  of  Publications,  viz. : 

Hugh   Miller's    "Works. 

Bayne's  "Works.       "Walker's  Works.       Miall's  "Works.       Bungener's   "Work. 

Annnal  of  Scientific  Discovery.      Knight's  Knowledge  is  Power. 

Krummaeher's  Suffering  Saviour, 

Banvard's  American  Histories.      The  Aimwell   Stories. 

tTeweomb'B  "Works.     Tweedie's  Works.     Chambers's  "Works.     Harris' "Work?. 

Kitto's   Cyclopaedia   of  Biblical   Literature. 

Mrs.  Knight's  Life  of  Montgomery.        Kitto's  History  of  Palestine. 

"Whewell's  "Work.     "Wayland's  "Works.     Agassiz's  "Works. 


"Williams'  "Works.     Guyot's  "Works. 

Thompson's  Better  Land.     Kimball's  Heaven.    "Valuable  "Works  on  Missione. 

Haven's  Mental  Philosophy.     Buchanan's  Modern  Atheism. 

Cruden's  Condensed  Concordance.     Eadie's  Analytical  Concordance. 

The  Psalmist :  a  Collection    of  Hymns. 

"Valuable  School  Books.     "Works  for  Sabbath  Schools. 

Memoir  of  Amos  Lawrence. 

Poetical  "Works  of  Milton,  Cowper,  Scott.       Elegant  Miniature  "Volumes. 

Arvine's   Cyclopaedia  of  Anecdotes. 

Hipley's  Notes  on  G-ospels,  Acts,  and  Romans. 

Sprague's  European  Celebrities.     Marsh's  Camel  and  the  Hallig. 

Hoget's  Thesaurus  of  English  "Words. 

Hackett's  Notes  on  Acts.      M'"Whorter's  Yahveh  Christ. 

^ieoold  and  Stannius's  Comparative  Anatomy.  Marcou's  Geolojfical  Map,  "U.  S, 

Religious  and  Miscellaneous  "Works. 

"Works  in  the  various  Departments  of  Literature,  Science  and  Art. 


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